M35kElc> 


I i 


Its  Nature  and  Relations; 

AN  ELUCIDATION 

OF 

Froebel’s  Principles  of  Education. 


A FREE  RENDERING  OF  THE  GERMAN 

OF  THE 

Baroness  Marenholtz-Billow. 


Come,  let  us  live  for  our  cliildren 

THE  ilBRABy  OF  THE  F™cHFa<KBE.. 


JUn  i ^ ]996,, 


'Ihikd  Edition. 


UIVIVERSnv  Of  ilUi^OIS 


NEW  YORK: 

E.  Steiger. 

I8T7. 


N O T I C K. 


The  publisher  of  this  book  is  resolved  to  exj^end  his  best 
energies  in  the  interest  of  Education.  He  has  witnessed  with 
lively  satisfaction  the  progress  of  education  in  this  country; 
but  while  appreciating  the  good  that  has  been  done,  he 
agrees  in  the  opinion  of  many  that  the  system  at  work  is 
susceptible  of  improvement.  He  has  embraced  the  cause  of 
the  Kindergarten  System,  therefore,  as  best  calculated,  in  his 
judgment,  to  inaugurate  a thorough  educational  reform;  and 
he  will  gladly  entertain  projDOsals  for  the  publication  of  other 
valuable  works  on  the  subject,  and  cheerfully  cooperate  with 
School  authorities,  associations  and  individuals,  whose  aim  is 
the  amelioration  of  the  existing  modes  of  education. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1872,  by 

E.  St  ei  g e r, 

in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


E.  Steiger,  N.  Y., 
Electrotyper  and  Printer. 


^12.. 2. 


C O N T E N T S. 

Page 

Peeface 1 

Chapter  I.  The  New  Education 5 

Chapter  II.  The  Child’s  Being.  Its  Belation  to  Nature, 

Man,  and  God 22 

Chapter  III.  The  Child’s  Manifestations 37 

Chapter  IV.  The  Child’s  Education 55 

Chapter  V.  The  Child’s  Education.  (Continued) 72 

Chapter  VL  Eroebel’s  “Mother  Cosseting  Songs” 92 

Chapter  VII.  Froebel’s  “Mother  Cosseting  Songs”.  (Cont’d)  114 

Chapter  VIII.  Fundamental  Forms  133 

Chapter  IX.  Reading 143 


\ 


PREFACE. 


This  little  book  appears  in  answer  to  many  inquiries 
addressed  to  me,  by  letter  and  personally,  concerning 
Frgebel’s  system.  When  in  Berlin,  where  my  daughter 
pursued  her  study  of  the  system  under  the  Baroness 
Marenholtz,  I communicated  to  one  of  our  American 
friends,  a gentleman  of  high  culture,  who  was  greatly 
interested  in  the  Kindergarten  method,  our  intention 
of  introducing  Frcebel’s  system  into  America.  He 
heartily  approved,  but  when  I suggested  that  the  best 
way  to  do  this  might  be  to  translate  or  write  a book 
on  the  subject,  he  objected:  ‘^No,”  he  said,  would 
not  do  that;  you  know  that  our  people  are  eminently 
practical;  you  must  first  show  them  practically  what 
it  is,  this  will  excite  interest  and  inquiry,  and  then 
people  will  be  ready  to  read  something  on  the  subject. 
Anything  written  about  it  now  would  fall  dead  to  the 
ground.” 

We  have  followed  this  friend’s  advice.  We  have 
exemplified  Frcebel’s  method  in  a Kindergarten,  have 
trained  teachers  to  spread  the  system,  and,  by  the 
aid  of  an  enthusiastic  and  devoted  friend  of  the  cause. 
Miss  E.  P.  Peabody,  who  years  ago  became  interested 
in  the  subject  and  has  in  lectures,  conversations,  and 


2 


writings  given  glimpses  of  Frcebel’s  ideas,  the  Avav 
lias,  we  think,  been  well  prepared  for  the  advent  of 
this  book. 

Instead  of  relying  entirely  upon  my  own  interpreta- 
tion of  Frgebel’s  ideas  as  I have  gathered  them  from 
his  works,  I have  taken  my  clew  from  one  of  his  per- 
sonal friends  and  disciples,  the  noble  and  highl}' gifted 
Baroness  Marenholtz-Buelow,*  and  have  followed 
her  as  closely  as  I deemed  her  presentation  of  the  subject 
adapted  to  the  American  mind  and  mode  of  thought. 

Frcebel  himself  was  not  happy  in  the  expression  of 
his  thoughts  in  writing,  and  therefore  the  personal, 
friendly  intercourse  which  the  Baroness  had  with  him, 
her  intuitive  understanding  of  his  often  hidden  mean- 
ing, make  her  worksf  and  teaching  of  the  greatest 
value. 

A French  author,  M.  Guyard,  wrote  to  the  Baron- 
ess in  1851  when  she  was  in  Paris  as  follows: 

Accept  my  warmest  and  most  sincere  wishes  for 
the  propagation  of  Frcebel^s  method.  He  is  perhaps 
the  greatest  philosopher  of  our  time,  and  has  found  in 
you  what  all  philosophers  need,  that  is:  a woman  who 
understands  him,  who  clothes  him  with  flesh  and 
blood,  and  makes  him  alive.  I think,  I believe  indeed, 
that  an  idea,  in  order  to  bear  fruit,  must  have  a father 

* The  Baroness  is  now  in  Florence,  Italy,  where  she  was  in- 
vited by  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction  to  introduce  Feoebel’s 
Kindergarten  and  Normal  Schools  for  training  teachers. 

t “ Das  Kind  und  sein  Wesen^\  of  which  this  book  is  a free  ren- 
dering, and  Die  Arbeit  und  die  neue  Erziehung'\  are  the  most 
important. 


3 


and  a mother.  Hitherto  ideas  have  liad  fathers  only. 
As  Frcebel’s  ideas  are  so  likely  to  find  mothers,  they 
will  have  an  immense  success.  AVhen  the  ideas  of  the 
future  shall  have  become  alive  in  devoted  women,  the 
face  of  the  world  will  be  changed.” 

So  I confidently  send  forth  this  little  volume,  and 
trust  that  mothers  anxious  to  do  the  best  for  their 
little  ones,  teachers  who  are  truly  and  earnestly  trying 
to  fulfil  their  mission,  philanthropists  whose  thoughts 
are  busy  in  devising  means  to  diminish  vice  and  crime 
and  to  lift  humanity  upon  a higher  plane,  philosophers 
who  are  searching  for  the  cause  of  things,  clergymen 
who  do  not  believe  in  faith  without  works,  — in  short 
all  intelligent  persons,  may  find  some  helpful  sugges- 
tions in  its  pages.  It  may  perhaps  be  said,  there  is 
nothing  new  in  these  ideas; — we  knew  all  this  long 
ago.  But  is  not  the  fact  that  the  truth  announced  by 
Frcebel  has  long  been  latent  in  the  minds  of  all,  just 
the  evidence  we  need  that  it  is  a truth  ? In  one  sense 
there  is  nothing  new  under  the  sun;  but  a great  many 
apples  had  fallen  before  Newton  discovered  the  law 
of  gravitation ! A great  truth,  a great  discovery,  is 
not  the  special  property  of  any  one  individual,  nor  is 
it  for  any  one  nation  alone;  it  is  for  the  whole  human 
family  and  must  be  of  universal  application. 

In  my  anxiety  to  have  Frcebel’s  principles,  those  on 
which  he  based  the  Kindergarten,  rightly  understood, 
and  to  have  many  misapprehensions  corrected,  I may 
have  unduly  hastened  the  publication  of  this  book,  and 
for  any  defects  in  form  or  expression  I ask  indulgence. 


4 


Those  familiar  with  German  should  not  fail  to  read 
the  original  as  well  as  many  other  very  interesting 
and  instructive  books  on  the  subject.  May  God  speed 
the  good  cause  in  spite  of  all  human  imperfections ! 

Matilda  H,  Kriege, 

Boston,  May,  1872. 


Preface  to  the  Second  Edition. 


It  is  highly  gratifying  to  the  publisher  tliat  a second 
edition  of  this  book  is  so  soon  and  suddenly  called  for. 
The  absence  of  the  author  abroad  prevents,  however, 
any  alterations  being  made  in  the  new  edition,  and  to 
meet  the  demand  it  is  issued  tliercfore  as  a literal 
reprint  of  the  first. 

New  York,  October  1872. 


Chapter  I. 


The  New  Education. 


The  process  of  remodelling  society,  the  reforms  that 
have  been  going  on  in  the  last  century,  make  a reform 
in  education  an  absolute  necessity. 

The  life  of  individuals,  as  of  humanity,  is  not  a 
chance  succession  of  yesterday,  to-day  and  to-morrow; 
it  is  no  blind  game  that  deals  out  to  generations  their 
lot;  it  is  a connected  whole  which  is  ruled  by  eternal 
laws  of  development  even  as  the  microscopic  world  of 
the  drop  of  water  and  the  countless  solar  systems  of 
the  universe  are  ruled.  Human  society  is  an  organ- 
ism, and  its  single  parts  cannot  be  affected  in  isolation. 
What  affects  one  member  of  this  organism,  reacts  on 
every  other,  and  therefore  on  the  whole.  Great  po- 
litical revolutions,  the  remodelling  of  states,  social 
reforms,  as  well  as  important  discoveries  or  inventions, 
the  announcement  of  new  truths,  deeper  insight, — 
all  produce  not  only  changes  within  circumscribed 
limits,  but  necessitate  changes,  perhaps  improvements, 
progress  in  all  realms  of  life. 

How  can  Education  remain  unaffected?  Has  it 
not  to  prepare  the  coming  generation  for  these  altered, 
5 


6 


improved  conditions  ? It  is  evident  that  it  must  be 
progressive  too,  and  the  responsibility  rests  upon  it 
to  so  train  up  the  young  that  the  activity  of  each  in- 
dividual of  future  society  may  be  felt  as  a blessing  and 
not  as  a curse.  In  order  suitably  to  educate  the  young 
for  a future  sphere  of  usefulness,  education  must  not 
look  at  a present  order  of  things  merely,  but  must 
also  consider  what  higher  conditions  of  society  these 
children  may  be  required  to  meet,  when  they  reach 
maturity,  and  for  which  they  need  training.  Educa- 
tion should  not  therefore  remain  stationary',  but  should 
bo  reformed  according  to  the  demands  of  the  times. 
The  old  landmarks  are  removed  not  only  in  politics, 
but  in  science,  religion,  art,  and  industry;  the  limits 
are  extended,  the  conditions  for  taking  an  active  part, 
are  heightened:  and  for  every  individual,  in  whatever 
department  of  human  exertion  he  may  choose  his  life- 
work,  the  requirements  are  greater  and  the  number 
of  duties  increased. 

The  idea  of  general  culture  is  scarcely  fifty  years 
old,  and  yet  what  a change  in  its  requirements ! The 
justice  of  this  demand  for  general  culture  in  all  grades 
of  society  is  becoming  more  fully  recognized.  The 
common  schools  in  their  progressive  tendency  have 
acknowledged  the  rightfulness  of  the  claim  on  the 
whole,  but  have  they  done  all  that  is  needful  ? With- 
out underrating  the  importance  of  improvements  made 
in  public  instruction,  we  may  put  the  pertinent  ques- 
tion: have  all  the  requirements  that  the  present  time 
has  a right  to  make  regarding  harmonious,  human 


1 


development  been  fully  met  ? Have  the  best  of  our 
schools,  V hilc  imparting  a knowledge  of  what  is  good, 
just,  noble,  beautiful  and  elevated,  sufficient  to  satisfy 
the  demands  of  a higher  morality,  also  imparted  the 
power  to  realize  in  life  that  which  has  been  recognized 
ill  principle  ? Are  their  pupils  fitted  to  enter  upon 
those  moral  and  social  reforms  that  are  needed  to 
bring  about  a better  state  of  society  ? Alas,  facts  an- 
swer in  the  negative ! Look  at  the  crowded  prisons 
and  houses  of  correction,  the  numerous  hospitals  and 
insane  asylums,  the  increasing  number  of  divorces, 
the  wide  spread  immorality,  the  suicides  and  homi- 
cides, the  immense  increase  of  pauperism, — in  spite 
of  labor  and  commerce  freed  from  former  restrictions, 
and  notwithstanding  an  enormous  advance  in  the 
most  important  branches  of  industry — and  then  say 
what  the  testimony  is  in  regard  to  education!  Does 
not  irreligion,  mocking  the  highest  aspirations  of  the 
human  soul,  itself  supported  by  shallow  reasoning  and 
pampering  coarse,  debasing  appetites,  increase  ? In 
spite  of  our  many  churches,  are  not  fraud  and  corrup- 
tion rampant  everywhere,  and  are  such  the  fruits  of  a 
true,  healthful  education  commensurate  with  a high 
state  of  culture,  the  boast  of  our  century  ? 

Yet  all  we  have  said  touches  only  the  outside  of  ex- 
isting conditions.  What  misery  is  revealed,  if  we  look 
into  the  hidden  folds  of  society ! Selfishness  in  its 
coarsest  and  most  refined  forms,  meanness  of  every 
kind,  greed  of  gain,  the  barter  of  principles  for  money, 
these  are  the  vices  working  secretly  and  claiming  to 


8 


be  virtues.  Shams  of  every  sort  prevail  to  such  an 
extent  that  faith  in  unselfish  devotion  to  principle  in 
good  men  has  almost  disappeared,  and  the  best  mo- 
tives of  devoted  souls  are  distrusted:  they  are  martyrs 
doomed  to  fight  against  the  argument  that  ^^this  state 
of  things  has  always  been  and  will  be  as  long  as  there 
are  men  and  human  passions”.  Such  an  assertion 
merely  shows  that  people  have  not  intelligently  and 
seriously  studied  the  history  of  human  development: 
for  that  history  shows  clearly  the  difference  between 
the  social  condition  of  civilized  nations  and  barbaric 
hordes  and  tribes;  it  shows  too  how  far  our  culture  is 
in  advance  of  the  primitive  condition  of  our  forefathers. 
The  really  great  minds  of  all  times  and  all  nations 
agree  in  the  belief  that  the  human  race  is  fitted  and 
destined  to  attain  a much  higher  degree  of  perfection, 
and  consequently  to  a state  of  greater  well-being  and 
happiness. 

But  the  solution  of  this  problem,  the  working  out  of 
our  destiny,  is  dependent  on  the  harmonious  develop- 
ment of  all  powers  and  talents,  and  on  each  stage  of 
development  it  is  essential  that  the  degree  of  intel- 
ligence attained  be  balanced  by  the  degree  of  morality 
expressed  in  life  and  action.  To  establish  the  equi- 
librium between  intelligence  and  moral  power  as 
evinced  in  the  outward  life,  is  in  a great  measure  if 
not  solely  the  task  that  Education  has  now  to  attempt. 
The  school  alone  is  unable  to  accomplish  it,  because  it 
takes  into  account  almost  exclusively  the  intellect,  and 
merely  imparts  knowledge.  But  this  by  itself  is  not 


9 


sufficient  to  prevent  or  to  keep  in  subordination  sin, 
crime  and  meanness.  If  ignorance  may  be  charged 
with  part  of  the  evil,  the  greater  part  of  it  must  be 
attributed  to  a lack  in  the  cultivation  of  the  heart  and 
conscience,  to  want  of  exercise  of  the  moral  faculties, — 
culture  which  falls  chiefly  within  the  province  of  home, 
of  the  family  and  of  society.  If  it  were  otherwise,  we 
should  not  as  now  And  that  large  numbers  of  our 
criminals  are  intelligent  people  who  have  had  the  ad- 
vantages of  schools.  The  history  of  every  age  shows 
that  a one-sided  cultivation  of  the  intellect  does  not 
save  men  from  evils  of  all  kinds,  and  that  it  even  helps 
them  to  commit  wicked  deeds  more  skilfully.  The  as- 
sertion that  crime  has  diminished  in  the  last  century, 
may  be  true,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  morality 
has  gained  on  the  whole.  If  the  number  of  open, 
gross  outrages  on  humanity  has  been  less,  yet  the 
sum  of  more  private  wrongs,  of  unjust  deeds,  of 
fraud,  unblushing  selfishness  and  shame,  has  greatly 
increased.  Human  society  bears  on  its  crown  the 
flowers  of  intelligence,  while  its  roots  rot  in  the  swamp 
of  materialism.  The  enlightened  spirit  of  the  age 
struggles  up  to  the  heights  of  culture,  but  its  feet  are 
fettered  with  the  chains  of  low  sensuality.  In  the 
midst  of  a wide  spread  but  too  superficial  civilization, 
individuals  everywhere  are  reaching  after  conditions 
which  alone  can  secure  their  welfare  and  happiness. 
The  gulf  between  insight  and  attainment,  between 
aspiration  and  accomplishment,  between  the  ideal 
and  the  reality,  grows  wider  and  wider,  as  the  evils  of 


10 


society  are  more  clearly  recognized.  The  efforts  for 
improvement  are  too  often  failures.  Let  no  one  accuse 
us  of  painting  in  too  dark  colors ! If  we  would  reform 
society,  we  must  first  reveal  existing  evils  and  point 
out  their  consequences,  not,  however,  ignoring  the 
good  that  also  exists,  or  failing  to  acknowledge  at  the 
same  time  the  progress  already  made  in  certain  direc- 
tions. God  is  the  same  in  all  ages,  and  His  light 
shines  everywhere ! 

One  of  the  evils  of  the  present  day  we  find  to  be  the 
want  of  a true  education,  such  as  is  required  fora 
generation  sound  neither  in  body  nor  soul.  This 
youthful  generation  is  perhaps  the  least  happy  in  many 
centuries.  Precociousness  of  intellect,  love  of  criti- 
cism, of  excitement  and  self-gratification,  are  not  the 
signs  of  a healthful,  hopeful  youth  cherishing  noble 
ideals  which,  realized  in  manhood,  would  bring  about 
a purer  state  of  society. 

Only  new  and  better  men  can  create  better  condi- 
tions. These  men  must  be  the  outgrowth  of  a new 
and  better  system  of  education  equal  to  the  demands 
of  our  present  state  of  culture.  The  school  must  as- 
sume part  of  this  work,  but  only  a part,  by  enlarging 
its  sphere,  by  incorporating  fresh  life  elements.  As 
all  the  activities  of  life  make  use  of,  or  take  advantage 
of,  the  discoveries  in  every  branch  of  science,  so  the 
school  must  include  the  activities  of  real  life,  in  order 
to  prepare  its  pupils  to  combine  theory  and  practice, 
thinking  and  doing.  It  should  no  longer  be  merely  a 
place  in  which  to  acquire  learning,  it  ought  no  longer 


11 


to  teach  sciences  apart  from  their  application  to  life, 
but  should  prepare  the  young  for  the  practical  every- 
day work  of  their  existence.  Above  all  it  ought  to 
give  its  pupils  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  moral 
powers.  For  this,  free  activity  is  requisite;  only  a free 
choice  of  the  true  and  good  gives  to  our  actions  the 
stamp  of  a higher  morality.  The  study  of  historical 
examples,  of  elevated  thoughts,  of  noble  deeds,  does 
not  suffice  for  a truly  moral  education;  we  must  fur- 
nish a field  of  action,  in  which  our  youth  can  exercise 
themselves  in  noble  and  generous  deeds.  Besides 
this  they  need  conditions  favorable  to  the  acquisitions 
of  good  hahits  as  a basis  for  all  virtues.  No  one  can 
become  a master  in  any  great  art  by  merely  commit- 
ting its  theories  to  memory.  Education  must  furnish 
more  than  verbal  instruction.  The  Bible  tells  us  to 
work  and  pray;  that  is,  approach  in  thought,  in  aspi- 
ration, to  the  Most  High,  and  show  forth  this  spirit  of 
communion  in  deeds.  Mere  verbal  instruction  is,  of 
course,  easier  for  teacher  and  pupil,  but  therefore 
hurtful  to  the  latter.  He  gets  used  to  a mere  recep- 
tion of  facts  into  the  memory  without  thinking  or  in- 
vestigating for  himself.  But  healthy,  normal  develop- 
ment proceeds  differently.  The  young  mind  can  re- 
ceive properly  only  a very  limited  amount  of  instruc- 
tion, can  only  slowly  assimilate  and  make  it  its  own. 
It  at  first  only  truly  receives  that  which  is  presented 
in  a tangible,  a concrete  form.  But  even  in  the  con- 
templation of  the  concrete,  of  the  object,  it  depends 
upon  the  organization  of  the  pupil,  whether  by  his  own 


12 


observation  he  gains  a clear  mental  image  which  will 
make  a lasting  impression  and  be  wrought  into  a per- 
ception, or  whether  the  image  is  vague,  the  impres- 
sion transient,  and  so  the  perception  wanting. 

The  young  mind  feels,  moreover,  a desire  to  repro- 
duce the  images  and  perceptions  it  has  acquired;  to 
embody  them  in  an  external,  concrete  form,  in  order 
to  make  them  more  definite  and  clear  to  itself.  This 
strongly  defined  need  of  the  child’s  nature,  is  sup- 
pressed by  mere  verbal  instruction  that  comes  far  too 
early  to  load  the  mind  through  the  memory  with  a bur- 
den of  facts,  weakening  and  destroying  its  higher  fac- 
ulties. 

It  is  of  the  greatest  importance  to  the  well-being  and 
happiness  of  all  men,  that  each  one  should  occupy  that 
place  in  society,  for  which  he  is,  by  his  organization 
and  peculiar  talents,  best  fitted.  It  is  necessary  there- 
fore to  recognize  this  natural  inner  bent  at  an  early 
period,  in  order  to  bring  outer  conditions  into  harmony 
with  it.  In  the  realms  of  nature  harmony  prevails, 
because  everything  is  in  the  place  for  which  it  is  by 
its  peculiar  characteristics  adapted;  it  does  not  strive 
to  be  something  or  somewhere  else.  What  produces 
harmony  in  unconscious  nature,  must  also  produce  har- 
mony in  the  world  of  humanity,  if  a conscious  obedience 
be  rendered  to  the  same  law.  The  only  means  to  secure 
this  obedience  and  promote  this  harmony,  lie  in  the 
recognition,  even  in  childhood,  of  an  inner  vocation, 
for  the  fulfilment  of  which  Education  may  then  pro- 
ceed to  prepare  the  child. 


13 


Man  will  and  must  seek  for  happiness.  He  finds  it 
onl}"  when,  in  work,  in  the  fulfilment  of  duty  and  general 
usefulness,  he  gives  expression  to  his  inner  life.  By 
no  other  means  can  he  attain  true  happiness  and  con- 
tentment. If  the  way  to  this  can  be  made  smooth 
from  earliest  childhood,  if  education  can  guide  in  the 
right  direction,  and  impart  power  to  fulfil  the  individ- 
ual vocation,  thousands  of  missteps  may  be  saved  each 
one  who  otherwise  will  blindly  follow  natural  impulse 
and  seek  happiness  where  it  is  not  to  be  found.  Human 
passions,  which  always  lead  astray,  can  only  be  coun- 
terbalanced by  giving  the  higher  aspirations  of  every 
human  being  opportunity  for  spontaneous  expression, 
by  so  developing  them  that  under  all  circumstances 
they  can  make  their  mark.  Well-being  thus  secured 
through  the  higher  moral  powers,  through  the  fulfil, 
ment  of  duties,  and  of  a calling  which  exercises  all  the 
personal,  ideal  life-elements,  is  a strong  safeguard 
against  temptation  to  seek  happiness  in  low  sensual 
pleasures.  Inner  and  outer  harmony  of  existence 
will  be  thus  attained,  and  strength  gained  to  over- 
come discords  in  the  conditions  of  the  world. 

Every  self-conscious  man  needs  a centre,  round  which 
his  deeds,  his  desires  and  aspirations  may  revolve. 
The  want  of  such  a centre  causes  discord  and  unhap- 
piness. The  higher  this  central  point  is  placed,  the 
easier  it  is  to  discover  the  relations  of  personal  activi- 
ty to  the  life  of  the  community.  This  relation  of  the 
individual  to  the  community  is  implied  when  we  speak 
of  a higher  morality,  of  true,  exalted  contentment. 


14 


For  man  is  not  a single,  unconnected  being,  but  a link 
in  the  interminable  chain  of  mankind,  closely  bound  to 
those  who  live  with  him,  to  those  who  lived  before 
him,  and  to  all  who  shall  live  after  him. 

At  present  we  have  only  the  semblance  of  such  an 
expansion  of  individual  existence  into  that  of  humanity; 
we  have  the  assent  of  intellect  but  not  the  response  of 
the  heart.  A semblance  can  never  truly  confer  bless- 
ings; truth  only  can  do  that.  But  this  want  of  reality 
causes  universal  discontent.  If  we  would  secure  true 
happiness,  education  must  from  the  very  outset  make 
its  conditions  possible.  These  conditions  are  supplied, 
when  the  natural  impulses  are  gratified  in  an  ideal 
manner. 

This  contentment  the  child  experiences  at  first 
through  that  which  is  agreeable  to  him,  as  in  physical 
sensations;  then  through  the  beautiful,  in  impressions 
made  by  external  things,  and  later  througli  that  which 
is  good,  in  the  approval  of  his  own  conscience.  But 
in  order  to  reach  this  goal,  he  must  furthermore  ac- 
quire good  habits  and  self-activity,  which  beginning  in 
childish  play  lead  on  to  moral  action. 

For  the  supply  of  conditions  favorable  to  such  devel- 
opment, the  child  is  dependent  upon  the  two  mighty 
agents  of  Education,  the  family  and  the  school.  As 
yet  both  fail  to  give  what  is  required.  Education  in 
the  family  is  left  to  chance,  or  is  dependent  on  the 
natural  capability  and  fitness  of  the  parents,  the  best 
of  whom  have  no  sure  guide  in  their  work,  and  the 
greater  part  of  whom  deal  thoughtlessly  and  arbitrari- 


15 


ly  with  their  children.  The  school,  on  the  other  hand, 
offers  only  the  means  for  intellectual  growth,  and  can- 
not therefore  act  directly  on  the  moral  faculties.  It 
lacks  means  for  promoting  free  activity,  for  calling 
forth  the  ideal  in  productions  of  beauty,  and  for  ex- 
ercising the  full  powers  of  its  pupils,  without  which 
neither  the  moral  faculties  nor  the  individual  vocation 
can  be  developed  and  strengthened. 

To  meet  such  conditions,  a deeper  knowledge  of  the 
child’s  nature  is  needed,  a knowledge  of  its  original 
endowments  and  capacities,  which  have  at  first  no 
definite  form,  no  certain  tendency,  so  that  the  edu- 
cator may  be  enabled  to  direct  them  toward  the  true 
goal,  the  good,  the  beautiful  and  the  true.  If  we  can 
not  do  this  in  absolute  perfection,  still  we  may  demand 
of  Education  that  it  keep  this  in  view  as  its  end,  and 
that  every  reform  in  its  systems  shall  regard  the  im- 
provement of  means  for  the  attainment  of  this  end, 
this  ideal  goal. 

If  the  pedagogues  of  former  times  have  expressed 
similar  thoughts,  and  have  attempted  to  realize  them, 
yet  the  present  condition  of  society  proves  that  the 
means  they  employed  were  not,  or  are  no  longer,  effec- 
tive. A new  genius  was  needed  to  add  a fresh  element 
to  the  old,  to  carry  it  still  higher,  and  this  genius  we 
find  in  Friedrich  Frcebel,  who  was  the  first  to  dis- 
cover the  means  by  which  harmony  is  established  be- 
tween receiving  and  reproducing,  learning  and  prac- 
tising, knowing  and  doing,  from  the  first  dawn  of  con- 
scious life  in  the  child  on  through  all  subsequent  stages 


16 


according  to  their  requirements.  Here  then  we  have 
a beginning  of  the  solution  of  the  great  educational 
problem.  Education  can  now  proceed  in  accordance 
with  nature.  Body  and  soul  are  to  be  duly  cared  for, 
the  one  is  not  to  be  neglected  and  suppressed  for  the 
sake  of  the  other,  but  the  body,  by  discipline  of  the 
senses  and  cultivation  of  the  natural  impulses,  is  to  be 
raised  to  an  equality  with  the  mind.  If  perfect  union 
be  not  immediately  attained,  at  least  a more  perfect 
balance  will  be  established  in  the  duality  of  human 
nature,  and  the  two  forces  in  it  which  we  have  been 
accustomed  to  regard  as  antagonistic,  will  be  brought 
into  harmonious  action. 

Ercebel  does  not  deny  that  man  has  inherent  tend- 
encies and  inclinations  to  evil,  but  he  thinks  that  it  is 
the  province  of  Education  to  turn  such  tendencies  into 
good  channels,  so  that  evil  may  become  less  and  less. 
Who  can  determine  the  degree  in  which  sin  and  evil 
may  be  eradicated  by  education?  But  unless  it  strive 
for  this,  education  is  without  a true  and  firm  basis. 

The  belief  in  salvation  from  sin  through  Christ  is  not 
here  touched,  for  no  one  thinks  that  absolute  perfec- 
tion is  to  be  attained  by  this  mode  of  education;  but 
a new  beginning  is  needed,  so  that  we  may  b}^  further 
development  come  nearer  to  the  realization  of  Heaven 
upon  earth,  or  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  within  us. 

This  new  beginning  must  be  made  in  the  family  at 
the  commencement  of  the  child’s  life,  by  its  natural 
educator,  the  mother.  The  mother  must  not  be  guid- 
ed solely  by  instinct,  for  instinct  is  blind  and  does  not 


lY 


suffice  for  the  guidance  of  rational  beings.  She  needs 
to  understand  all  the  child’s  impulses,  in  order  to  sat- 
isfy them  and  give  them  the  means  to  develop  spon- 
taneously and  rightly.  This  science,  the  true  science 
of  mothers,  Frcebel  has  put  before  us.  By  it  the 
family  will  be  able  to  exert  educational  influence,  to 
prepare  the  soil,  and,  above  all,  to  develop  moral 
power,  a task  for  which  the  school  alone  is  not  ade- 
quate. 


No  one  will  deny  that  education  in  the  early  part 
of  a child’s  life  is  eminently  a woman  question;  for 
does  not  the  duty  of  the  early  training  of  the  child  de- 
volve upon  the  mother?  And  if,  for  some  cause  or 
other,  the  mother  is  unable  to  fulfil  her  duty,  is  it  not 
to  woman  again  that  she  has  to  intrust  the  charge  ? 
But  is  every  one  of  that  sex,  in  virtue  of  being  a wo- 
man, fitted  by  nature  to  assume  such  great  responsi- 
bilities ? or  is  some  previous  training  required  to  enable 
her  nobly  and  conscientiously  to  fulfil  her  task,  even 
as  a man  has  to  be  trained  for  his  avocations  in  life  ? 
Are  the  ignorant  capable  of  fulfilling  this  duty  as  well 
as  those  who  have  deeply  and  seriously  reflected  upon 
the  subject,  and  have  tried  to  make  themselves  ac- 
quainted with  all  that  appertains  to  the  laws  of  life 
and  health,  to  the  laws  of  morals  and  of  mind  ? Do 
our  girls  receive  an  education  that  fits  them  for  the 
holy  duties  of  maternity?  Would  not  even  the  most 


18 


intellectual  mothers,  if  they  were  honest,  admit  that 
they  had  made  grave  mistakes  in  the  education  of 
their  children,  that  they  knew  very  little  on  the  sub- 
ject when  they  had  the  first  child?  Everybody  seems 
to  rely  on  instinct  in  this  most  important  matter,  ig- 
norant that  there  is,  or  ought  to  be,  a science  of  edu- 
cation^ with  certain  laws  as  fixed  as  those  of  every 
other  science  where  like  causes  produce  like  results. 
Certainly  instinct  goes  a great  way  in  teaching 
mothers  what  to  do  with  their  offspring,  but  should 
rational  human  beings  trust  merely  to  instinct,  with 
which,  as  we  all  know,  our  Creator  has  not  so  per- 
fectly endowed  the  human  race  as  He  has  animals? 
Has  He  not  given  us  reason  instead  ? Is  it  not  self- 
evident  then  that  we  should  consult  reason,  and  try  to 
acquire  knowledge,  on  a subject  of  such  vast  impor- 
tance, so  closely  related  to  the  destiny  of  the  race  ? 

But  on  looking  around  us  in  human  society,  we  must 
become  aware,  if  we  do  not  blind  ourselves  to  the 
fact,  that  our  knowledge  on  this  most  important  point 
is  very  limited  and  crude.  If  poor  helpless  children 
could  make  an  outcry  against  all  the  ill-treatment  they 
receive,  could  protest  against  the  outrages  which  they 
suffer,  often  at  the  hands  of  tender  but  mistaken 
parents,  the  world  would  be  startled ! As  it  is,  they 
have  to  bear  their  misery  in  silence  as  long  as  they 
are  able,  and  often  by  shortened  lives  or  ruined  health 
do  they  pay  the  penalty  of  physical  ill-treatment.  Not 
so  readily  is  the  perversion  of  their  souls,  the  stunting 
of  their  minds,  traced  back  to  earliest  causes,  as  is  their 


19 


physical  condition  in  later  years.  Yet  it  is  true  that 
the  earliest  impressions  are  the  most  lasting,  and  that 
character  is  formed, — irrespective  of  ante-natal  influ- 
ences, which,  however,  are  not  to  be  lightly  estimat- 
ed,— in  the  first  years  of  a child’s  life.  Should  we 
not  then  greet  with  joy  those  good  and  wise  men  whom 
Providence  has  sent  and  illuminated  in  such  an  im- 
portant matter  as  the  education  of  the  human  race  ? 
Should  we  not  be  anxious  to  learn  this  new  science  ? 

Our  own  country  has  had  men  who  devoted  their 
lives  to  the  cause  of  education.  Let  us  hear  what 
Horace  Mann  says  about  physical  deterioration:  ^^The 
present  generation  is  suffering  incalculably  under  an 
ignorance  of  physical  education.  The  fifteen  millions 
of  the  United  States,  at  the  present  day,  are  by  no 
means  the  five  times  three  millions  of  the  revolutionary 
era.  Were  this  degeneracy  attributable  to  Mother 
Nature,  we  should  compare  her  to  a fraudulent  manu- 
facturer who,  having  established  his  name  in  the  mar- 
ket for  the  excellence  of  his  fabrics,  should  avail  him- 
self of  his  reputation  to  palm  oflT  subsequent  bales  or 
packages  with  the  same  stamp,  or  ear-mark,  but  of 
meaner  quality.  *****  The  old  hearts  of  oak  are 
gone;  society  is  sufiering  under  a curvature  of  the 
spine,  and  if  the  deterioration  holds  out  at  its  present 
rate,  especially  in  cities,  we  shall  soon  be  a bed-ridden 
people.”  Further  he  says  on  the  danger  of  the  Re- 
public: ‘T  do  not  hesitate  to  affirm  that  our  republican 
edifice  at  this  time, — in  present  fact  and  truth, — is 
not  sustained  by  those  columns  of  solid  and  ever-en- 


20 


during  adamant,  intelligence  and  virtue.  Its  various 
parts  are  only  just  clinging  together  by  that  remark- 
able cohesion,— that  mutual  bearing  and  support, 
which  unsound  portions  of  a structure  may  impart  to 
each  other,  and  which,  as  every  mechanic  well  knows, 
will,  for  a time,  hold  the  rotten  materials  of  an  edifice 
together,  although  not  one  of  its  timbers  could  support 
its  own  weight:  and  unless,  therefore,  a new  substruc- 
ture can  be  placed  beneath  every  buttress  and  angle  of 
this  boasted  Temple  of  Liberty,  it  will  soon  totter  and 
fall,  and  bury  all  indwellers  in  its  ruins.-’  But  of 
what  can  this  new  substructure  be  formed,  save  of  the 
children  who  constitute  the  coming  generation?  It  is 
the  task  of  mothers  to  form  their  characters. 

Pestalozzi  has  done  a great  deal  to  reform  educa- 
tion, and  was  the  first  in  history  who  called  upon 
the  mothers  to  aid  him  in  his  work;  he  knew  well  that 
education  consisted  not  merely  in  instruction  or,  even 
worse,  in  mere  memorizing  of  facts.  He  said, 
will  make  education  the  basis  of  the  common  moral 
character  of  the  people,  and  will  put  the  education  of 
the  people  in  the  hands  of  the  mothers.”  And  so  he 
did,  in  giving  them  the  Book  for  Mothers,  or  How 
Gertrude  teaches  her  Children,'''  If  the  family  is  not 
the  holy  temple  of  God,  if  the  mother  does  not  vivify 
the  heart  and  head  of  the  child,  it  is  in  vain  to  expect 
a reform  in  social  matters.  This  was  Pestalozzi’s 
belief,  and  it  was  also  that  of  Friedrich  Frcebel  who 
devoted  his  whole  life  to  the  study  of  education,  and 
to  the  practical  embodiment  of  his  ideas  on  the  sub- 


21 


ject.  His  system  is  based  so  entirely  upon  the  na- 
ture of  the  child  and  its  requirements  for  develop- 
ment, that,  after  it  is  known  and  applied,  people 
are  struck  with  wonder  that  all  those  means  which 
seem  so  simple  and  to  the  purpose,  have  not  long 
been  known  and  in  use.  Let  us  now  see  what  he 
has  to  teach  us. 


22 


Chapter  II. 

The  Child  s Being. — Its  Relation  to  Nature, 
Man,  and  God. 


The  child  is  born;  struggling  it  enters  life;  a scream 
is  its  first  manifestation.  Its  destiny  is  activity,  it 
has  to  conquer  the  world,  in  whatever  social  condi- 
tions its  cradle  is  placed.  A thick  veil  hangs  over  its 
future.  The  green  bud  does  not  disclose  what  kind 
of  a flower  it  will  develop.  Can  the  mother  even  guess 
what  destiny  is  in  store  for  her  new-born  babe  ? Can 
she  tell  whether  he  will  become  a benefactor  of  hu- 
manity or  a miserable  criminal  ? May  she  contribute 
something  toward  the  former?  May  she  prevent  the 
latter?  Who  will  doubt  that  she  can  do  something 
in  both  these  directions  ? Let  us  presuppose  the  nat- 
ural endowments  of  a Beethoven,  a Washington,  a 
Raphael,  a Goethe,  and  let  us  place  their  cradle  in  a 
den  of  misery  and  vice, — the  period  of  childhood 
passed  without  loving  care,  without  guidance,  in  de- 
moralizing surroundings,  youth  passed  among  drunk- 
ards, thieves,  and  murderers, — what  natural  endow- 
ments would  have  become  developed?  Almost  none. 
Natural  endowment  may  even  be  a weapon  in  the 


23 


hands  of  the  wicked.  Or,  if  the  cradle  of  such  a fa- 
vored one  by  nature  be  placed  in  the  palace  of  a rich 
man,  and  weak  and  careless  parents  bring  up  the 
child  in  luxury  and  idleness, — will,  in  such  a case,  the 
natural  endowments  ripen  into  perfection  ? It  is  doubt- 
ful if  they  even  show  stunted  blossoms.  But  let  us  sup- 
pose the  contrary.  Let  a child  of  but  few  natural 
endowments  be  brought  up  far  from  vice  and  misery, 
and  equally  far  from  enervating  luxury  and  idleness; 
whose  parents  fulfil  every  thing  a human  being  has  a 
right  to  demand  in  point  of  education  and  develop- 
ment,— will  he  in  this  case  become  an  extraordinary 
being,  a great  artist,  a great  character,  marking  his 
place  in  human  society  ? Certainly  not.  A- great  genius, 
or  a great  character,  brings  his  endowments  into  the 
world.  You  cannot  expect  roses  from  thistles.  Even 
the  best  endowed,  educated  among  all  the  influences 
the  best  methods  of  education  can  bring  to  bear,  be 
it  Frgebel’s  method  or  any  other,  would  he  be  an  ab- 
solutely perfect  human  being?  Not  so!  The  inherent 
evils  of  our  human  nature,  the  imperfection  of  sur- 
rounding circumstances,  will  still  be  felt.  We  are  in- 
capable of  determining  what  is  due  to  natural  endow- 
ment, to  surroundings,  to  education  given,  to  self-edu- 
cation, and  to  the  internal  workings  of  the  spirit  of 
God,  the  Holy  Ghost,  or  the  influx  of  divine  life  in  the 
regenerated  man.  But  the  more  we  can  learn  from 
educational  science  concerning  the  being  of  man,  the 
more  we  adapt  education  to  its  true  end, — the  more 
perfectly  will  the  human  race  develop  itself.  The 


24 


being,  the  capabilities  of  humanity,  have  not  yet  been 
understood  or  fully  brouglit  out.  We  have  that  one 
type  of  God-man,  Christ,  as  an  ideal,  as  an  example 
set  before  us.  We  know  that  the  human  race  was 
once  made  in  the  image  of  God,  that  God  is  the  author 
of  our  being;  to  return  to  this  God-likeness  we  believe 
is  our  destiny,  therefore  eternal  progression  only  is 
able  to  solve  the  problem  of  that  destiny.  We  do  not 
know  what  may  be,  in  this  state  of  existence,  the  de- 
gree of  progress  and  development,  of  which  our  race 
is  capable.  Frcebel  said:  ^^Man  has  not  received  his 
soul  from  man”;  and  he  repeats  often  in  his  writings: 
^^man  is  the  child  of  nature,  the  child  of  man,  and  the 
child  of  God”;  in  this  threefold  character  alone  can  he 
be  understood.  By  accepting  this  threefold  charac- 
ter of  man’s  being,  he  solves  the  opposite  of  body  and 
spirit  by  the  connecting  link  of  man.  Certain  it  is, 
that  the  child  with  his  first  breath  enters  into  a three- 
fold relation, — to  nature,  to  man,  and  to  God. 

1.  As  child  of  nature,  man  is  related  to  all  organ- 
isms of  creation,  and  even  to  the  inorganic,  the  earthy 
particles  of  which  (in  the  bones  for  instance)  may  be 
traced  in  his  organism.  As  a product  of  the  earth, 
he  is  not  only  subject  to  its  laws,  but  he  lives  on  it, 
he  exists  by  it,  he  proceeds  from  it,  and  returns  to  it. 
The  earth  is  his  mother:  as  a seed  it  bore  the  human 
race  in  its  bosom,  like  all  other  seeds  of  creation.  He 
is  surrounded  by  its  atmosphere,  out  of  it  his  natural 
life  ceases.  Climate  and  soil,  food  and  raiment,  mode 
of  life,  imprint  the  stamp  of  races  and  people,  of  which 


25 


the  individual  man  is  an  ingredient.  There  is  no  prod- 
uct in  nature  that  does  not  enter  into  intimate  rela- 
tions with  the  human  being.  Everywhere  is  inter- 
change of  matter  between  man  and  nature,  and  man 
ending  his  earthly  career  leaves  to  earth  his  bodily 
covering,  which  resolves  into  earth.  By  nature  men 
are  solidarily  connected,  each  generation  with  itself, 
and  all  generations  with  each  other;  for,  from  the 
first  to  the  last,  the  great  chemistry  of  the  world  has 
remodelled  them,  as  well  as  all  other  natural  objects. 
There  is  but  one  law  in  creation,  and  it  rules  the 
heavenly  bodies  as  well  as  the  worm,  the  animal,  and 
man;  for  their  originator,  their  creator,  is  one  and 
the  same — God.  And  because  a spirit,  the  divine, 
lives  in  nature  as  well  as  in  the  soul  of  man,  man  is 
capable  of  comprehending  nature.  We  have  only  ar- 
rived at  the  symbolism  of  nature;  with  bold  steps  Sci- 
ence conquers  in  our  day  one  realm  after  another.  If 
we  place  again  the  young  generation,  from  its  cradle, 
under  the  mighty  infiuence  of  God’s  creation,  so  that 
its  intuitive  language  may  take  hold  on  its  soul  and 
awaken  an  echo,  mankind  will  soon  explore  the  se- 
crets which  are  the  key  of  all  life,  and  the  hieroglyph- 
ics of  this  symbolism  will  soon  be  deciphered  by  all. 

2.  But,  as  the  child  of  man,  the  young  citizen  steps 
out  of  the  circle  of  necessity  into  the  realm  of  freedom, 
of  self-consciousness.  The  stamp  of  the  natural  being 
is  simple,  easily  recognized,  the  individual  is  the  re- 
flection of  the  species.  But,  as  a human  being,  the 
right  to  an  individuality  as  a personality  begins, — a 


26 


personality  which,  once  gained,  is  not  lost,  but  leads 
on  in  the  chain  of  self-conscious  beings  whose  highest 
link  is  with  God. 

Who  may  unravel  the  thousand-threaded  web  of  de- 
scent? Who  can  tell  what  is  due  to  the  race,  to  the 
nation,  to  the  family,  or  to  the  individual  ? Do  not 
all  the  traits  of  the  ancestors  live  in  the  descendants, 
either  developed  or  dormant?  No  one  can  wholly 
sever  the  chain  of  which  he  is  a link.  Nobody  can 
withdraw  from  the  inheritance  of  his  fathers,  whether 
it  consist  in  features,  in  motions,  or  in  peculiarities  of 
his  soul,  in  good  or  bad  qualities.  It  is  true  that  the 
sins  of  the  fathers  will  be  visited  upon  the  children 
unto  the  fourth  generation,  but  the  same  is  true  of 
virtues;  and  the  free  will  of  each  individuality  may, 
by  overcoming,  decrease  the  amount  of  sin  and  in- 
crease the  amount  of  virtue.  The  moral  advance  of 
the  race  consists  in  this:  that  each  individual  may  in- 
crease the  talent  inherited  from  a previous  genera- 
tion, and  leave  it  with  accumulated  interest  to  the 
following  one. 

Retrogressions,  by  individuals  as  well  as  families 
and  nations,  are  inevitable  in  the  great  school  of  ex- 
perience, in  which  Providence  has  placed  mankind. 
But  to  deny  progress  in  the  mass,  and  on  the  whole, 
is  denying  Providence  itself,  who  has  placed  the  long- 
ing for  something  better,  even  in  earthly  conditions, 
in  the  soul  of  man,  and  based  his  whole  mental  and 
moral  development  on  it.  Without  accepting  the  capac- 
ity for  improvement  and  progression  in  the  individual 


27 


and  in  the  race,  education  would  have  no  basis.  Hu- 
manity is  a whole;  it  is  destined  to  develop  itself  as 
one  organism,  and  to  manifest  itself  as  such,  by  the 
conscious  connection  of  its  links,  by  the  brotherhood 
of  man  which  all  religions  teach.  Therefore  the  indi- 
vidual can  only  bo  comprehended  as  a part  of  the  spe- 
cies, and  the  species  can  only  be  understood  through 
a knowledge  of  peculiar  individual  traits.  The  more 
exactly  and  completely  the  individual  character  mani- 
fests itself,  the  nearer  it  will  come  to  the  universal 
development  of  the  human  race.  Harmony  in  music 
is  only  attained,  when  each  individual  instrument  ex- 
presses its  peculiar  sound  perfectly. 

On  the  connection  of  single  individuals  among  them- 
selves, and  their  relation  to  past,  present,  and  future 
generations,  rests  the  shadow  of  darkness:  but  with 
the  progress  of  all  science,  the  science  of  mankind  ad- 
vances. The  time  will  come,  when  humanity  shall 
have  attained  what  philosophers  of  all  ages  have 
pointed  out  as  the  very  essence  of  wisdom — self-knowl- 
edge; when  it  shall  have  made  practical  the  precept: 
^^know  thyself” ! All  knowledge  must  pass  from  the 
easier  to  the  more  difficult;  so  the  road  to  man’s  self- 
knowledge  leads  first  through  all  the  organisms  of  na- 
ture below  him.  He  has  to  look  at  himself  first  through 
the  mirror  of  natural  objects,  till  he  recognizes  him- 
self in  his  own  mirror  as  a human  being. 

Only  in  the  reflection  of  his  race,  in  the  history  of 
mankind,  man  sees  what  he  is  in  his  kind,  if  even  now 
only  in  fragments.  Different  as  the  epochs  are,  much  as 


28 


nations,  or  much  as  individuals,  differ  from  one  another, 
the  universal,  common  traits  of  humanity  are  reflected 
for  each  one  of  us  from  the  history  of  the  race.  What 
is  it  that  gives  immortality  to  the  dramas  of  Shake- 
speare ? It  is  his  delineation  of  the  grand  traits  of  a 
common  humanity  in  such  a characteristic,  individual 
manner.  The  common  traits  of  humanity  are  eternally 
the  same,  and  will  be  understood  at  all  times,  in  all 
forms. 

The  human  race  experienced  and  experiences,  as 
the  individual  does,  from  its  birth,  the  different  grades 
of  development:  infancy,  youth,  manhood  and  the  cul- 
mination of  development.  And  again,  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  life  of  the  individual,  the  general  traits 
belonging  to  the  development  of  the  race,  as  we  trace 
it  in  history,  may  be  seen. 

It  is  Frcebel’s  undenied  merit  to  have  recognized 
this  fact,  and  to  have  found  the  means  to  aid  in  this 
development  from  earliest  infancy. 

In  the  instinctive  manifestations  of  the  child’s  being, 
if  not  interfered  with  by  artificial  drill,  there  appear 
traces  of  the  road  that  humanity  has  travelled  from 
the  beginning  of  civilization.  The  instinct  of  the  ani- 
mal is  strong  enough  at  the  outset  to  provide  for  the 
means  of  its  existence.  The  animal  races  have  not 
changed  their  functions:  the  bee  fashions  its  cell,  the 
swallow  builds  its  nest,  the  fox  has  its  den  now  as 
ever  before.  Man  alone,  from  the  first  rude  life  in 
nature,  by  toil  and  exertion,  aided  by  his  powerful 
inventive  genius,  has  forced  his  way  through  a thou- 


29 


sand  errors  and  false  steps,  up  to  his  present  height 
of  civilization.  The  history  of  culture  shows  what  man 
is,  and  what  has  been  attained  by  him;  the  future  will 
show  what  he  can  do,  and  what  there  may  yet  be  for 
him  to  accomplish.  But  whatever  production  eman- 
ates from  the  human  mind,  whether  it  be  the  ancient 
rude  tools  made  of  stones  and  roots,  or  the  most  in- 
genious machinery  of  modern  times;  whether  it  be  the 
rude  outline  and  drawing  of  the  shadows  of  objects, 
or  the  wonderful  works  in  painting  and  sculpture: 
whether  it  be  the  uncouth  imitations,  by  the  forest 
savage,  of  birds  and  the  different  sounds  in  nature,  or 
the  grand  and  sublime  symphonies  of  Beethoven; 
whether  it  be  the  knowledge  of  the  relations  of  space 
and  size  obtained  by  the  first  rectangle  measured,  or 
through  the  measurement  of  the  heavenly  bodies  by 
modern  science.  Nature’s  laws  still  guide  and  govern 
all  man’s  formations,  and  gauge  his  endeavors.  Man 
could  and  can  only  create  after  the  models  of  his  Cre- 
ator; they  were  his  patterns,  and  man’s  creations  are 
ennobled  by  the  stamp  of  genius  and  art.  They  be- 
came symbols  of  truth  to  him,  visible  signs  of  the  In- 
visible, until  he  was  capable  of  understanding  imme- 
diate revelation.  In  soft,  imperceptible  gradations, 
from  the  rudest  and  most  simple  in  sensuous  percep- 
tion to  the  expression  of  divine  beauty  in  works  of  art, 
and  of  truth  in  the  Word,  God,  the  sublime  Educator, 
leads  His  human  children. 

In  the  plays  of  children  of  all  times,  the  being  of 
humanity  is  expressed.  As  an  indistinct  remembrance 


30 


and  presentiment,  the  past  and  future  of  its  life  float 
through  the  soul  of  the  child,  and  groping  it  tries  to 
take  hold  of  the  thread,  from  within  and  without, 
which  is  to  guide  it  through  the  labyrinth,  and  help 
it  to  accomplish  its  destiny. 

As  the  birds  build  nests,  and  men  first  provide  them- 
selves with  shelter,  so  the  children  of  men  build  houses 
or  caverns  in  their  play.  As  the  chickens  scratch  in 
the  earth,  and  men  early  in  their  career  on  earth  be- 
gin to  cultivate  the  soil,  so  little  children  love  to  dig 
the  ground  in  their  play,  and  learn  in  a little  garden 
how  to  cultivate  the  soil,  to  sow  and  reap.  All  ma- 
terial in  their  hands,  if  it  be  only  moist  sand,  serves 
fojr  plastic  formations.  Every  art  will  be  attempted 
by  the  child,  whether  it  be  to  make  forms  with  chalk 
or  pencil,  or  to  delineate  them  in  sand,  whether  it  be 
the  inarticulate  sounds  of  the  babe  trying  to  become 
rhythmic  or  to  imitate  the  crowing  of  the  cock,  the 
lowing  of  the  cow  or  the  barking  of  the  dog,  until  at 
length  real  musical  sounds  proceed  from  the  throats 
of  little  children.  These  early  attempts  are  the  first 
beginnings  of  development  in  art.  As  the  first  ele- 
ments of  art  and  industry  show  themselves  in  the 
activity  of  children,  so  likewise  the  germs  of  science 
are  exhibited  in  the  desire  for  knowledge.  With  its  al- 
ways repeated  questions, — why  ? wherefore  ? whence  ? 
the  young  mind  searches  for  the  cause  of  all  things, 
for  truth  and  its  source — God. 

It  is  an  internal  necessity  that  the  development  of 
individuals  should  pass  through  the  same  phases  as 


SI 


that  of  all  humanity,  because  their  destiny  is  the  same 
— happiness;  or,  according  to  Frcebel,  ‘^joy,  peace, 
and  freedom-’,  are  what  the  individual  as  well  as  hu- 
manity strives  for.  It  can  be  attained  only  by  full  de- 
velopment of  the  whole  of  the  human  being.  True 
education  is  the  principal  means  to  this  end,  but 
this  means  can  only  become  available  through 
a true  knowledge  of  man.  It  is  only  by  this  knowl- 
edge that  the  secret  of  human  destiny  will  be  made 
known. 

Each  human  being  is  a peculiar  thought  of  God,  in 
that  which  is  his  spiritual  originality.  The  child  of 
God  lives  in  man  as  only  a faint  spark  when  he  enters 
this  world.  The  human  existence  serves  to  nurse  it 
into  a flame.  In  the  beginning,  the  child  of  nature 
predominates  as  instinctive  life:  as  an  impulse  that 
awakens  the  will,  which  at  flrst  is  an  ungoverned 
power  of  nature.  Self-preservation  is  the  unconscious 
aim  of  all  the  child’s  flrst  manifestations.  We  ought 
not  to  blame  the  child  for  its  so-called  selfishness.  If 
an  all-wise  Providence  had  not  put  this  impulse,  so 
strong  and  powerful,  in  the  human  breast,  how  could 
such  weak,  helpless  creatures  maintain  their  existence 
among  innumerable  dangers  ? But  education  has  to 
modify  and  moderate  this  impulse  of  self-preservation, 
and  lead  the  child  to  practically  exercise  its  capacity 
to  love,  and  thus  guide  it  out  of  the  narrow  circle  of 
its  own  personality  into  the  character  of  the  child  of 
man,  the  social  being,  a link  of  humanity.  In  this 
sphere  feeling  predominates,  and  intellect  begins  to 


S2 


guide  the  will-power,  and  show  it  a higher  aim  than 
individual  well-being  alone. 

Self-reliance,  independence,  freedom  are  the  highest 
expressions  of  the  human  being  as  an  individual.  Hoav 
backward  Avould  be  the  development  of  the  world,  if 
it  were  not  for  the  innate,  inborn  impulse  that  actu- 
ates men  to  obtain  an  independent,  distinguished  po- 
sition in  the  world ! Almost  all  progress  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  each  one  wants  to  be  himself  the  centre  of 
activity;  and  this  desire  urges  him  on  to  a thousand 
exertions,  to  countless  • inventions,  to  a continuous 
change  of  his  position,  and,  therefore,  of  all  existence. 

3.  But  as  long  as  man  thinks  only  of  himself,  even 
in  the  widened  circle  of  his  family  relations,  so  long 
the  child  of  God  slumbers  in  him.  It  only  awakens 
and  springs  to  life,  when  love,  which  at  first  compris- 
ed only  self  and  the  narrow  circle  of  a few  in  the 
generation,  drives  him  forth  into  the  larger  communi- 
ty of  the  people  ; then  this  love  becomes  strong  in  him, 
without  self-reference;  he  devotes  himself,  even  though 
he  sacrifices  his  own  earthly  personality,,  to  the  service 
of  the  whole.  Whosoever  serves  humanity  serves 
God.  The  words,  ‘ ^ He  that  loveth  not  his  brother, 
hovf  can  he  love  God?”  indicate  the  essence  of  all  re- 
ligion. Only  the  child  of  God,  with  consciousness  of 
this  aim,  is  truly  religious.  By  love,  out  of  our  own 
personality,  we  come  into  the  love  of  God,  in  the  higher 
community  which  exists  beyond  this  visible  world. 
By  each  ideal  aspiration  we  overstep  the  boundaries 
of  this  temporal,  visible  life,  and  enter  a world  in  which 


33 


the  mortal  becomes  immortal.  If  everywhere  in  tli^ 
universe  an  uninterrupted  connection  exists,  by  death 
only  a seeming  discontinuance  can  take  place.  The 
image  of  God,  which  man  is  destined  to  become,  can- 
not be  confined  within  the  narrow  limits  of  this  sphere; 
man,  as  such,  becomes  a citizen  of  the  universe  which, 
in  gradual  changes,  he  traverses,  and  overcomes  both 
space  and  time.  Who  will  deny  that  man’s  destiny  is  to 
be  in  communitywith  God,  andatlastinunitywithHim? 

Did  ever  a true  human  being,  a man  who  merited 
the  name  by  his  own  development,  go  through  his 
earthly  career,  without  knowing  the  longing  for  some- 
thing higher  and  better  than  this  world  can  bestow  ? 
Did  he  not  feel,  in  a moment  of  great  agitation, 
whether  of  joy  or  of  pain,  that  there  was  something 
beyond  the  limits  of  this  existence?  Is  any  work  of 
man,  even  the  highest;  any  action,  even  the  greatest 
to  be  conceived,  that  would  not  presuppose  something 
higher,  something  better  ? Nowhere  are  full  content- 
ment and  satisfactjion  in  human  existence;  everywhere 
presentiment,  longing,  hope,  reaches  out  beyond  it  to 
the  ideal  of  man, — as  it  once  was  presented  to  us  in 
Him  who  gave  his  life  for  his  brethren, — toward  the 
spring  of  all  fullness  and  perfection,  toward  God. 

He  is  the  child  of  God,  who  enters  into  the  higher 
freedom,  because  he  has  learned  to  feel  the  higher 
love.  Only  through  love  is  liberty  possible;  for  it 
overcomes  that  which  is  a hinderance  to  liberty.  No 
laws  of  restraint  are  needed  for  those  who  would  never 
violate  them,  and  only  he  who  is  possessed  of  perfect 


34 


freedom,  can  give  himself  in  perfect  love.  All  great 
benefactors  of  humanity,  all  true  heroes,  all  martyrs, 
all  saints,  all  real  artists,  all  great  explorers  in  truth 
and  science,  as  well  as  all  humble  souls  who  have  lived 
in  childlike  trust  and  piety,  have  been  children  of  God. 
In  them  the  divine  spark  flames  as  enthusiasm  which 
cleanses  and  purifles  the  human  soul,  and  permits  it 
to  be  penetrated  by  the  spirit  of  God. 

It  matters  little  whether  you  circumscribe  or  exalt 
the  degree  of  attainable  perfection  here  on  earth.  If 
progress  is  once  accepted  as  the  eternal  law,  it  must 
lead  to  higher  aims.  There  are  but  two  alternatives: 
either  earth  is  a treadmill  in  which  humanity  contin- 
ually circulates  without  proceeding  farther,  or  humani- 
ty is  destined  to  attain  even  on  earth  a certain  God- 
appointed  goal,  which  leads  on  farther  into  the  great 
hierarchy  of  the  universe. 

If  all  believed  in  this  high  destiny,  if  they  knew 
that  allj  all  without  exception,  according  to  God’s 
will,  had  to  work  to  attain  this  end,  how  much  quicker 
would  it  be  attained ! How  much  more  easily  would 
pain  and  misery  be  endured  and  overcome,  were  we 
to  keep  in  view  the  great  end:  that  for  its  attainment 
each  experience  must  be  undergone,  that  each  pain 
must  be  suffered  and  its  cause  removed,  before  sufferer 
and  worker  can  finally  share  in  the  glory  of  that  at- 
tainment ! This  is  the  true  belief,  the  belief  of  the 
glorification  of  God  in  mankind,  this  is  the  belief  that 
all  religions  have  to  presuppose;  it  is  the  essence  of 
Christianity;  and  one  of  the  reasons  why  our  genera- 


35 


tion  has  so  little  religion,  is  because  this  faith  is  want- 
ing I So  long  as  it  is  deemed  an  Utopian  dream  to 
believe  in  this  apotheosis  of  humanity,  so  long  it  will 
remain  unrealized. 

But  the  victory  of  the  child  of  God  cannot  be  attain- 
ed, if  the  child  of  nature,  or  the  child  of  man,  is  sup- 
pressed or  strangled.  The  true  accord  of  man’s  being 
appears  only  then,  when  each  chord  has  its  full  force 
and  value;  when  the  higher  nature  elevates  the  others 
to  equal  perfection. 

Education  can  only  fulfil  its  mission,  when  it  views 
the  human  being  in  this  threefold  relation,  and  takes 
each  into  due  account.  Education  could  not  fulfil  this 
mission  till  now,  not  only  because  the  child’s  being  was 
so  little  understood,  but  because  the  means  were  want- 
ing to  supply  the  demands  of  the  young  soul  from  the 
beginning.  Frgebel  found  the  key  to  unlock  the  child’s 
being,  he  understood  its  natural  mute  language;  he 
found  also  the  means  to  give  it  its  first  soul  nourish- 
ment, and  to  treat  the  child,  from  its  entrance  into 
life,  as  a reasonable  being  endowed  with  a high  des- 
tiny. 

But  where  shall  we  find  mothers  to  accept  this  rich 
bequest  from  the  educational  genius  of  our  time,  and 
to  employ  it  in  the  right  manner  ? Let  us  look  into 
all  grades  of  society  and  see  how  many  women  we  can 
count  who  are  truly  mothers  and  educators.  And  even 
the  best  of  these  lack  the  knowledge  and  means  to  ac- 
complish this  end. 

The  true  science  of  mothers  has  been  founded  by 


36 


Frcebel,  to  strike  at  the  root  of  the  awful  corruption 
in  matters  of  education,  and  thereby  to  prevent  intense 
misery  of  all  kinds. 

With  the  true  recognition  of  the  child’s  being,  the 
elevation  of  the  female  sex  is  closely  connected.  The 
science  of  mothers  introduces  woman  into  a higher 
knowledge;  not  the  stimulation  of  dry,  intellectual  at- 
tainments, but  the  development  of  true  feeling,  genuine 
wisdom.  With  the  consciousness,  that  a divine  spark 
glows  in  the  little  being  on  her  lap,  enthusiasm  will 
be  kindled  in  her  to  nurse  it,  and  to  educate  a true 
citizen  of  Heaven.  With  this  consecration  of  woman 
as  the  educator  of  the  human  race,  everything  is  con- 
nected that  elevates  her  to  the  true  dignity  of  hu- 
manity. 


Chapter  III. 


The  Child’s  Manifestations. 


Not  Frgebel  alone,  but  other  thinkers  of  the  present 
day  and  of  former  times,  have  expressed  the  thought, 
that  the  individual  can  only  develop  according  to  its 
species,  and  that  this  fact  should  guide  us  in  its  edu- 
cation and  treatment.  Frcebel  founded  his  Kinder- 
gartens on  this  truth.  Now  let  us  see  whether  his 
means  are  really  adapted  to  the  end. 

What  are  the  principal  manifestations  of  the  child? 
They  are  those  which  arc  more  or  less  common  to  all 
children,  and  in  which  the  beginnings  of  the  efforts  of 
the  human  race  after  culture  may  be  seen.  When  the 
child  is  born,  its  first  manifestation  is  motion^  motion 
of  its  limbs,  motion  of  its  interior  by  screaming:  de- 
velopment can  only  come  by  motion.  Before  the  hu- 
man being  can  begin  to  take  possession  of  himself  and 
of  the  world  outside  of  himself,  his  bodily  powers  and 
organs  must  be  somewhat  developed;  therefore  bodily 
development  is  chief  in  the  first  years  of  his  life.  The 
child  a few  months  old,  lying  in  its  cradle,  plays  with 
its  limbs,  grasps  its  tiny  feet,  kicks,  plays  with  its 


38 


fingers.  In  this  way  it  learns  about  its  own  form. 
The  child’s  greatest  desire,  when  it  is  able  to  walk,  is 
again  motion;  to  run  to  and  fro, — in  much  the  same 
way  as  a little  dog, — to  go  in  all  directions,  to  touch 
and  take  hold  of  everything  with  tlic  hands,  to  be  al- 
ways in  motion,  is  characteristic  of  every  healthy 
child.  The  more  its  strength  increases,  the  greater  the 
necessity  for  exertion  of  all  kinds,  that  drives  the 
boy,  especially,  to  games  of  running,  climbing,  jump- 
ing, throwing,  lifting,  which  require  strength  and  skill. 
The  child  itself,  however,  has  not  this  end  in  view,  it 
is  merely  driven  by  its  impulse,  the  gratification  of 
which  gives  it  pleasure.  Who.t  gives  pleasure  to  chil- 
dren generally  and  in  all  times,  serves  always  for 
their  development  in  some  way:  therefore  physical  de- 
velopment is  the  unconscious  aim  of  all  activity  in  early 
childhood. 

Physical  exertions  and  training,  chiefly  for  the  sake 
cf  procuring  the  means  of  sustenance,  characterize 
the  life  of  savages,  and  were  the  prominent  features 
in  that  of  the  uncultivated  peoples  of  former  ages. 
The  first  authenticated  records  of  history,  including 
the  heroic  age,  show  that  while  the  development  of 
physical  strength  and  dexterity  was  still  predominant, 
heroic  action  served  other  than  purely  material  and 
egotistical  purposes;  it  was  often  dictated  by  friendship 
cr  love  of  country.  Exertion  of  strength,  conquest  of 
obstacles  or  foes,  are  always  the  greatest  pleasures  of 
youth  and  early  manhood.  Even  in  the  middle  ages, 
tournaments,  duels,  and  the  chase,  alternated  almost 


39 


like  play  with  the  sterner  occupation  of  war.  Nothing 
shows  more  clearly  that  physical  development  was  the 
highest  pleasure  of  the  human  race,  in  the  period  of 
its  childhood,  than  the  mythology  of  the  northern 
peoples.  They  believed  that  the  dead  divide  their 
life  in  Yalhalla,  or  their  Heaven,  between  combats 
and  feasts,  but  with  the  advantage  that  wounds  re- 
ceived in  combat  heal  immediately,  and  those  who  are 
killed  are  quickly  able  to  sit  at  the  festive  board. 

The  limbs  and  organs  of  the  body  must  be  developed 
to  a certain  degree,  before  they  can  serve  as  adequate 
tools  for  the  mind.  We  see  clearly  how  Divine  Prov- 
idence always  incites  each  being  to  do  that  which 
serves  for  its  development.  The  child  is  not  obliged, 
as  man  was  in  his  primitive  state,  to  procure  its  phys- 
ical sustenance;  but  it  is  moved  by  inner  impulse  to 
use  its  limbs  and  organs  in  play,  so  that  they  develop. 
But  it  is  not  safe  to  leave  the  impulses  of  human 
beings  to  themselves;  they  are  apt  to  degenerate,  and 
to  lead  to  what  we  call  evil,  and  so  to  lead  away  from 
their  purpose  which  is  development.  Education  of  a 
child  is  furthering  its  natural  manifestations  in  such  a 
way  that  nature’s  aims  are  attained,  always  bearing 
in  mind  the  child’s  threefold  relation.  There  is  so 
much  less  demand  in  our  time  for  great  exertion  of 
strength,  so  much  less  effort  needed  to  overcome  ex- 
ternal obstacles,  that  we  have,  like  the  Greeks,  to 
employ  gymnastics  of  various  kinds  in  the  physical 
education  of  youth,  although  these  are  not  so  general- 
ly used  as  they  should  be.  To  meet  the  demands  of 


40 


the  impulses  of  childhood  in  this  respect,  very  little  is 
done,  where  Frcebel’s  Kindergartens  are  not  intro- 
duced. Gymnastics  and  games  are  the  fulfilment  of 
the  first  impulses  of  childhood  toward  development. 

After  the  development  of  rude  force,  that  of  the  skill 
of  the  hand  became  foremost  as  the  principal  condition 
for  the  beginnings  of  human  industry.  The  word 
^Miandeln”,  to  act,  in  German  is  derived  from  the 
member  chief  in  action — the  hand.  In  English  ^Ho 
handle”  is  somewhat  equivalent.  The  great  desire  in 
early  infancy, — second  only  to  the  craving  for  motion 
in  general, — is  to  use  the  hands.  The  sense  of  feeling 
is, — next  to  that  of  tasting,  which  is  also  a feeling  of 
the  tongue, — predominant  in  the  first  development  of 
the  senses.  In  the  beginning  of  life  all  the  senses  are, 
as  it  were,  somewhat  united.  The  little  efibrt  of  which 
each  is  capable,  necessitates  the  common  action  of  all. 
Children,  as  well  as  grown  persons  of  little  cultivation, 
naturally  wish  to  touch  everything  they  see;  the  eye 
alone  does  not  suffice  to  give  them  cognizance  of  an 
object. 

In  order  that  the  chief  instrument  for  work,  the 
hand,  be  well  prepared,  nature  prompts  the  child  to 
use  its  hands  constantly  in  play.  Nothing  is  more 
contrary  to  nature  than  to  forbid  a child  the  use  of 
its  hands,  yet  this  is  alwa3^s  done  in  schools.  That 
children  may  pay  attention  to  the  subject  taught,  they 
are  required  to  fold  their  hands,  or  to  cross  them  on 
the  back.  But  Frcebel  has  followed  the  hint  of  na- 
ture, has  found  means  to  chain  the  child^s  attention, 


41 


by  connecting  all  instruction  given  with  the  use  of 
its  hands.  The  hand  is  the  natural  sceptre  which 
Providence  has  given  man  as  king  of  the  earth.  With 
his  hands,  man  procured  all  defensive  weapons  pos- 
sessed naturally  by  animals  but  denied  to  him. 
Through  the  work  of  his  hands,  he  obtained  all  the 
tools  with  which  to  conquer  the  forces  of  nature  and 
matter,  and  to  procure  the  necessaries  and  embellish- 
ments of  life.  Without  the  development  of  skill  in  the 
hand,  industry  and  art  are  impossible.  But  the  won- 
ders of  industry  and  art  are  not  due  solely  to  the  re- 
markable construction  of  this  member;  indeed  man’s 
activity  is  loork  in  its  true  sense,  only  when  the  mind 
guides  the  fingers  which  merely  serve  to  carry  out  its 
plans  and  combinations.  Work,  therefore,  is  no  curse^ 
but  man’s  high  prerogative.  The  plays  of  children 
are  to  them  like  work,  serving  to  develop  their  limbs, 
organs  and  senses.  After  the  first  unguided  attempts 
to  touch  or  grasp  things,  their  main  delight  is  to 
handle  some  soft  mass,  be  it  earth,  sand,  or  even  the 
mud  in  the  street.  One  of  the  first  impulses  of  child- 
hood is  toward  plastic  forming;  but  this  impulse  does 
not  serve  the  purpose  intended,  if  education  does  not 
undertake,  as  in  the  Kindergarten,  to  provide  ade- 
quate material,  and  direct  the  moulding,  in  order  to 
bring  the  awakened  instinct  into  activity  for  a definite 
purpose. 

The  first  and  easiest  forming,  after  modelling  in 
sand  and  clay,  is  building.  After  the  child  has  dug 
holes  in  a sand  hill,  it  proceeds  to  build  houses  or 


42 


whatever  its  fancy  may  suggest,  and  thus  its  endeav- 
ors tend  to  the  creation  of  an  industry  on  a small 
scale.  The  never  fading  interest  of  all  children  in  the 
story  of  Robinson  Crusoe,  lies  chiefly  in  the  minute 
description  of  the  efforts  made,  by  a single  individual, 
after  culture,  a description  in  which  children  see  their 
own  endeavors  reflected  as  in  a mirror.  Undoubtedly 
one  of  the  first  attempts  of  the  human  race,  after 
caverns  in  rocks  or  huts  of  boughs  in  the  forest  were 
deemed  insufficient,  was  to  build  dwellings.  But  when, 
by  improvement  in  implements  of  labor,  work  ad- 
vanced from  its  first  rough  outlines,  the  combinations 
of  the  mind  became  more  manifold,  forms  more  devel- 
oped; and  a sense  of  the  beautiful  awakened  in  our 
progenitors,  as  it  also  awakens  in  the  child.  All  things 
shining  and  brilliant  in  color,  give  gladness  and  joy 
to  children,  as  they  still  do  to  savages.  They  strive 
to  produce  something  beautiful  in  their  works,  and, 
by  degrees,  aim  at  harmony  and^g^mbtry.  Children, 
therefore,  not  only  instinctively  delight  in  modelling 
and  forming,  but  they  also  attempt  drawing  and  col- 
oring. 

The  child  sees  first  the  contour  of  things.  Those 
who  have  observed  children  must  have  noticed  them 
tracing  outlines  with  their  fingers,  and  attempting  to 
draw  chairs,  tables,  houses,  or  the  contour  of  their 
own  hands  on  the  slate,  straight  lines  always  striking 
the  eye  before  curves.  The  same  is  true  of  the  people 
who  earliest  attempted  architecture— the  Egyptians. 
Their  drawings  consist  of  contours, — linear  drawings 


43 


without  curves  or  arches,  and  without  perspective, 
like  the  first  attempts  of  the  child. 

Before  the  child  talks,  it  produces  various  sounds; 
and  the  instinctive  perception  of  its  craving  for  the 
rhythmic  has  taught  mothers  and  nurses  the  number- 
less cradle-songs  and  lullabies  with  which  they  accom- 
pany the  measured  swaying  and  rocking  of  babes  in 
their  arms.  The  power  to  distinguish  between  sounds 
is  among  the  earliest  manifestations  of  children  (how 
quickly  an  infant  knows  its  mother’s  voice!),  and  in- 
struction in  singing  is  a powerful  means  of  education. 
Savages  and  children  show  a natural  desire  for  sing- 
ing and  dancing, -^rhythm  of  sound,  and  rhythm  of 
motion. 

Even,  before  a child  has  attempted  any  productions 
in  art.  wc  have  seen  it  strongly  influenced  by  nature; 
animals  and  flowers  have  fixed  its  attention.  Infants 
stretch  out  their  arms  in  delight,  when  the  hat  and 
cloak  are  brought  preparatory  to  a walk;  they  are 
not  only  pleased  to  be  in  the  enlivening  fresh  air,  but 
made  happy  by  the  impressions  received  from  the 
various  forms  of  natural  objects. 

After  children  have  obtained  free  use  of  their  limbs, 
we  see  all  that  are  not  kept  from  it  by  parents  who 
fear  the  soiling  of  hands  and  clothes,  digging  in  the 
earth,  — in  the  garden  it  may  be.  At  first  the  nearest 
stick,  or  a shovel  picked  up  somewhere,  serves  as  a 
tool,  and  they  throw  up  the  ground,  make  hills,  and 
build  walls  as  mere  exercise.  But,  after  a little,  ob- 
servation is  added  to  these  instinctive  manifestations. 


44 


the  impulse  awakens  to  cultivate  the  earth;  to  use  in 
play  the  productivity  of  the  soil  for  self-benefit:  so 
mankind  in  its  early  development  used  it  to  obtain  a 
fuller  supply  and  better  quality  of  food.  May  it  not 
be  an  undefined  idea  of  the  limitation  of  space,  that 
leads  the  child  to  fence  its  little  garden-plot  with 
sticks  ? The  motive  that  led  originally  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  soil,  was  certainly  the  desire  for  possession. 
Without  possessions,  without  property,  the  individual- 
ity of  man  would  never  have  been  so  fully  developed. 
Property  expands  personality  by  giving  a man  power 
to  work,  means  to  carry  out  his  will;  and,  at  the  same 
time,  it  enables  him  to  share  what  is  peculiarly  his 
with  others, — to  prepare  the  soil  out  of  love  to‘  his 
neighbor. 

But  for  agriculture  man  would  never  have  forsaken 
nomadic  life,  never  have  founded  cities  and  communi- 
ties, never  have  become  a nation,  never  have  known 
love  of  country.  To  many  it  may  seem  ridiculous  to 
connect  the  first  small  possession  of  a child  with  love 
of  country,  and  see  in  it  the  very  germ  of  patriotism. 
Still,  in  the  nature  of  things,  that  which  is  characteris- 
tic of  man’s  life,  in  greater  or  less  degree,  must  have 
an  almost  imperceptible  beginning  as  the  germinating 
point  for  development.  The  largest  tree  started  from 
a very  small  seed;  and  the  greatest  deeds  of  man  are 
but  the  developed  emotions  of  an  infant’s  soul.  The 
love  of  one’s  own  fireside,  is  it  not  the  starting  point 
of  the  love  of  one’s  country  ? 

If  physical  wants  first  impelled  man  to  cultivate  the 


45 


soil,  it  is  evident,  in  the  course  of  history,  that  a 
higher  motive  was  soon  added,  which  tended  to  elevate 
his  soul.  The  culture  of  that  which  serves  merely  to 
supply  material  needs  will  awaken  affection;  whatever 
man  takes  care  of,  whatever  he  works  for,  that  object 
he  loves.  We  should  regard  a child  that  showed 
no  affection  for  any  plaything  or  pet,  as  unnatural  and 
degenerate.  The  little  girl  attributes  to  her  doll,  or 
the  boy  to  his  toy  horse,  all  the  feelings  of  a living  be- 
ing, and  loves  it  accordingly.  From  these  inanimate 
things,  the  affections  are  transferred  to  domestic  ani- 
mals, or  to  the  flowers  of  the  garden.  The  child  who 
has  never  owned  a little  piece  of  land,  never  worked 
it  in  the  sweat  of  his  brow,  never  taken  loving  care  of 
plants  and  animals,  will  always  have  a blank  in  the 
development  of  his  soul;  he  will  never  have  the  per- 
fect gift  of  taking  care  of  human  beings.  All  care  and 
nursing  demand  the  overcoming  of  indolence,  and  self- 
abnegation,  which  can  be  acquired  only  by  practice. 
Frcebel  suggests  that  early  practical  lessons  of  this 
kind  may  be  given:  let  children  from  their  own  pocket- 
money  buy  food  for  canary  birds,  or  other  pets,  and  so 
learn  to  feel  themselves  immediately  responsible  for 
their  care  and  support.  By  cultivation  of  its  soil,  man 
established  his  right  to  the  globe  he  inhabits;  and  the 
first  doctrine,  in  his  code  of  laws,  is  that  duties  and 
rights  should  be  equal. 

After  the  child  has  obtained  the  use  of  its  limbs  and 
senses;  when  its  activity  and  observation  somewhat 
awakened  have  led  it  into  many  little  experiences, 


46 


then  the  impulse  to  know  (sometimes  called  curiosity) 
becomes  strong:  it  asks  for  the  cause  of  things  and 
appearances,  incessantly  repeating:  whence ? why? 
wherefore?  The  visible  world  had  to  furnish  mate- 
rial for  its  perceptions,  before  the  world  of  thought 
was  roused  from  slumber.  For  the  sake  of  obtaining 
knowledge,  the  child  makes  experiments.  It  knocks 
different  objects  together,  throws  them  down,  in- 
vestigates the  density  of  materials,  tastes,  tears, 
destroys,  in  order  to  ascertain  something  about  their 
internal  structure,  and  makes  a thousand  experiments 
to  become  acquainted  with  the  quality  and  the  use  of 
things.  This  process  of  observation  and  investigation, 
is  followed  by  comparison  of  things  among  themselves; 
comparison  leads  to  perception  of  size,  form,  color, 
number,  etc.  What  child  does  not  measure  the  length 
and  breadth  of  different  objects,  to  find  out  which  of 
the  two  is  larger  ? What  child  does  not  like  to  count 
the  things  with  which  it  is  occupied,  and  ask  the  name 
and  use  of  each?  Alas!  the  answers  given  to  the 
child  thirsting  for  knowledge,  are  often  empty  words 
little  calculated  to  satisfy  it.  No  mere  words,  unac- 
companied with  demonstrations,  can  give  replies  that 
will  be  clear  to  the  childish  perception.  Object  lessons 
should  begin  with  the  first  plays,  not  with  the  first 
school.  How  the  child’s  eyes  glisten  at  the  discovery 
of  a shining  pebble  in  the  road,  a new  flower  in  the 
meadow!  It  experiences  a delight  similar  to  that 
which  the  philosopher  feels  in  the  discovery  of  what 
be  believes  to  be  a new  truth, 


47 


As,  in  the  first  awakening  of  its  mind,  the  child  is 
occupied  in  finding  out  how  far  or  how  near  an  object 
is,  or,  in  other  words,  with  the  relations  of  space,  so 
the  knowledge  of  mankind  began  with  the  first  ele- 
ments of  mathematics  or  geometry.  The  only  book 
open  to  man  in  the  beginning  of  his  development,  was 
the  book  of  nature;  observation  and  imitation  led  him 
from  discovery  to  discovery,  each  widened  the  horizon- 
of  the  mind — increased  knowledge.  With  a knowledge 
of  nature, — at  first  shallow  and  superficial  as  based  on 
mere  appearance, — began  the  intellectual  development 
of  mankind.  A child’s  first  lessons  should  likewise  be 
from  natural  objects.  The  first  abstractions  from  man’s 
experimental  knowledge  necessarily  led  to  mathemati- 
cal conclusions:  calculation  and  conclusion  follow  com- 
parison. Things  are  clearly  perceived  by  the  under- 
standing, only  when  they  are  classified  according  to 
number  and  size. 

The  child  gains  its  first  geographical  knowledge 
from  explorations  in  the  playground,  the  garden  or 
the  village;  in  the  same  manner,  the  first  geographi- 
cal notions  of  mankind  were  derived  from  the  explora- 
tion of  neighboring  countries,  and  observation  of  their 
climate,  soil,  products,  etc. 

With  the  lives  of  the  Patriarchs, — most  interesting 
to  us  as  Christians, — and  those  of  ancient  peoples, 
history  began;  its  earliest  form  was  oral  tradition. 
What  is  more  interesting  to  children  than  stories  of 
what  happened  in  the  family  before  they  were  in  ex- 
istence ? How  unweariedly  they  listen  to  the  grand- 


48 


mother’s  tales  concerning  her  own  young  days,  or 
those  of  her  children.  The  discovery  that  she  is  speak- 
ing of  their  father  or  mother  when  a little  child^  gives 
deepest  interest  to  the  narrative.  Frcebel  would 
have  all  families  preserve  records  that  might  serve  in 
this  way  as  a foundation  for  further  historical  knowl- 
edge. 

All  the  stages  of  development  we  have  contemplat- 
ed man  could  attain  only  in  connection  with  his  fellow 
man,  by  social  union.  The  desire  for  society  w^e  see 
even  in  animals;  it  is  more  predominant  in  animals  of 
the  higher  than  of  the  lower  order,  and  is  most  deeply 
rooted  in  the  human  being;  it  is  the  origin  and  means 
of  all  culture.  Solitary  confinement  is  man’s  worst 
and  most  cruel  punishment.  Yery  little  can  be  ac- 
complished single-handed;  only  by  associated  efibrt 
does  man  overcome  space  and  time;  by  it  he  presses 
natural  forces  into  his  service,  and  so  becomes  more 
and  more  the  lord  of  creation. 

The  child  manifests  even  in  the  first  months  of  its 
life  a desire  for  society;  it  cries  in  its  cradle  if  it  fan- 
cies itself  alone,  and  is  often  quieted  by  a single  word. 
But  it  not  only  craves  the  society  of  grown  people,  it 
desires  to  be  with  its  equals  in  age  and  development. 
Look  at  the  beautiful  smile,  the  happy  expression  of 
the  eyes,  when  the  smallest  child  sees  children  of  it? 
own  age!  One  that  grows  up  entirely  among  older 
people,  will  never  have  the  freshness  and  vivacity 
which  result  from  a life  in  community  with  children; 
seriousness,  sometimes  sadness,  marks  the  features  of 


49 


such  a one.  We  have  said  that  social  union  is  the 
basis  of  all  culture;  the  play  of  children  among  them- 
selves is  especially  the  basis  of  all  moral  culture. 
Without  charity,  without  the  various  relations  between 
man  and  man,  morals  and  culture  vanish;  the  desire 
for  society  is  at  the  foundation  of  Church  and  State, 
and  of  all  that  makes  human  life  what  it  is. 

Frcebel  thinks,  that  the  first  manifestation  of  relig- 
ious aspiration,  is  the  child’s  desire  for  the  society  of 
grown  people;  it  wants  somebody  to  look  up  to,  and 
may  have  an  undefined  feeling  that  some  common  ob- 
ject unites  all,  some  common  interest  binds  all  to- 
gether. Let  several  people  assemble  in  the  street, 
children  run  to  join  them,  and  they  even  submit  to 
great  restraint,  for  the  sake  of  being  in  the  company 
of  men  and  women.  Their  desire  to  go  to  church,  is 
based  upon  this  feeling,  rather  than  on  one  of  interest 
in  what  goes  on  there,  which  is  beyond  the  childish 
comprehension.  The  reverent  acts  of  others,  their 
elders,  afiect  them.  Certainly  this  is  the  first  unde- 
fined feeling  which  animates  a child’s  heart;  and  con- 
nected with  it  is  love  to  its  fellows,  always  preceding 
love  to  God.  Only  through  love  to  mother,  father, 
brethren,  is  the  young  soul  led  to  its  Heavenly  Father. 
Developed  natural  affections  kindle  the  sacred  fiame 
of  religion.  Religious  feeling  or  perception,  like  every 
oilier^  is,  in  its  'beginning,  instinctive. 

In  the  infant  watching  the  motion  of  a suspended 
ball,  and  following  with  its  eyes  along  the  string  from 
the  ball  to  the  hand  that  guides  it,  Frcebel  sees  a ma- 


50 


nifestation  of  the  mind’s  impulse  to  seek  and  find  the 
cause  of  all  eifects.  This  may  seem  absurd  to  those 
who  do  not  admit  a psychological  reason  for  the  child’s 
manifestations,  but  that  all  conscious  manifestations 
proceed  from  the  unconscious,  no  thinker  will  deny.  This 
being  admitted,  Frgebel’s  idea  is  vindicated,  that  the 
conception  of  the  mature  mind  originates  in  the  spon- 
taneity of  the  child’s  soul,  which  awakened  by  out- 
ward appearances,  first  manifests  itself  as  instinct,  or 
inclination.  Hence,  he  argues,  the  propriety  of  begin- 
ning instruction  with  the  concrete, — the  object  which 
the  child  can  comprehend — , and  proceeding  very 
gradually  to  the  abstract  thought.  He  says:  that 
passing  from  the  object  to  the  image  or  picture,  from 
the  picture  to  the  sign,  from  the  sign  to  the  idea,  the 
road  leads  to  consciousness  or  knowledge.  Pesta- 
Lozzi  expresses  a similar  opinion  in  the  words:  ^^There 
is  nothing  in  the  mind,  that  has  not  passed  through 
the  senses”.  Trace  written  language  back  to  its  be- 
ginning. Rude  hieroglyphics  served  at  first  to  convey 
notions  of  single  objects  or  events;  then  a continuous 
story  was  given  by  a series  of  the  same  symbols;  but 
not  until  civilization  was  far  advanced,  did  abstract 
thought  find  expression  in  arbitrary  signs,  or  alpha- 
betical characters.  The  science  of  numbers  also  begins 
with  the  numeration  of  objects;  and  the  wisdom  of  il- 
lustrating the  text  of  elementary  school  books  with 
pictures  of  things  to  be  named  or  counted,  is  apparent. 
Returning  to  the  process  of  religious  development,  we 
find  it  to  be  in  nowise  exceptional.  Man’s  conceptions 


61 


of  a higher,  a supreme  Being,  were  gained  originally 
through  impressions  received  from  the  natural  and 
visible  world,  even  as  the  child’s  are  now.  Man  felt 
his  impotence  in  the  presence  of  the  ever-active,  gi- 
gantic forces  of  nature,  and  bowed  trembling  before 
their  unknown  ruler.  He  found  himself,  his  very  ex- 
istence, dependent  on  the  gifts  and  benefactions  of 
nature,  and  when,  like  a tender  mother,  she  showered 
bounties  upon  him,  he  loved  her.  Her  different  as- 
pects gave  him  the  idea  of  good  and  evil  deities.  He 
worshipped  nature  in  symbols  derived  from  her  own 
treasury,  until  becoming  more  conscious  of  himself 
and  his  being,  he  humanized,  as  it  were,  the  soul  of 
nature  and  worshipped  it  ideally  in  his  gods.  The 
beautiful  statues  of  Greece  represented  deities  that 
were  believed  really  to  exist,  and,  transcending  the 
idols  of  other  pagan  nations,  were  often  personifica- 
tions of  virtues  and  abstract  qualities  of  the  mind. 

‘Who  made  all  the  trees,  the  flowers,  the  birds,  the 
little  lambs  ? Who  made  me  ? Who  made  father  and 
mother?”  the  child  asks,  seeking  the  first  cause  with 
the  natural  impulse  of  a thinking  being.  Like  the 
savage  it  is  terrified  by  the  rolling  thunder  which 
rouses  a perception  of  a higher  power;  spring’s  balmy 
breezes  fill  it  with  undefined  delight;  it  anticipates  the 
unseen  benefactor  who  is,  as  yet,  represented  to  it  in 
the  visible  presence  of  its  parents.  It  sits  on  the  grass, 
in  summer  time,  under  a blooming  tree  on  which  birds 
sing  sweet  songs;  fragrant  flowers  fill  its  lap,  the 
bright  sunshine  gladdens  all  things,  and  a light  warm 


52 


breeze  floats  the  blossoms  from  the  tree  like  pure 
snow  flakes  against  the  child’s  cheek.  A sensation 
of  awe  and  never  before  experienced  bliss,  fills  its 
soul, — it  whispers:  ^‘that  is  God  who  is  passing  by”, 
— and  a first  revelation  of  God  has  entered  the  soul. 
Thus,  as  Frggbel  says,  with  natural  religion  all  relig- 
ion begins;  God  in  man,  God  as  revealed  to  us  in 
Christ,  must  also  be  recognized,  but  such  recognition 
can  only  be  after  God  in  nature  has  been  felt.  On  ac- 
count of  these  views,  Frcebel  has  been  attacked  by 
the  ultra  orthodox,  and  his  system  denounced  as  irre- 
ligious. It  must  be  clear  to  the  unprejudiced,  however, 
that,  instead  of  lacking  religion,  Frcebel’s  method 
aims  to  make  it  a vital  necessity,  and  while  guarding 
the  child  from  the  abstract  teachings  of  theology, 
to  nurse  and  healthily  develop  the  divine  spark,  so 
^Hhatbody,  soul  and  spirit”  may  grow  harmoniously 
into  the  stature  of  the  perfect  man. 

We  see  then  that  the  manifestations  of  all  children 
are  similar;  having  the  same  origin,  being  founded  on 
natural,  inborn  impulses,  they  must  be  like.  But 
nature  does  nothing  in  vain,  nothing  without  a pur- 
pose; all  natural  impulses  must  therefore  tend  to  some- 
thing, and  can  have  no  other  design  than  to  serve  for 
the  development  of  the  individual  organism.  The 
child  plays,  it  must  play  in  order  to  develop.  Its  play 
is  its  work,  destined  to  awaken  its  powers  and  capac- 
ities, to  train  them,  to  strengthen  them,  so  that  it 
may  be  fitted  to  accomplish  its  destiny  as  a human 
being — ^to  become  a child  of  God.  The  sum  of  the  act- 


53 


ivities  of  the  human  race, — manifested  in  past  and 
present  states  of  culture, — can  likewise  only  have  the 
purpose  to  further  the  development  of  the  human  race, 
as  such,  by  unfolding  all  its  capabilities,  and  making 
it  what  God  destined  it  to  be.  But  as  the  human 
race  consists  of  single  individuals,  the  end  of  indi- 
vidual existence  must  be  the  same  as  that  of  the  com- 
munity of  which  it  is  a part;  that  end  is  perfection, 
not  absolute  but  relative:  the  perfection  of  the  finite, 
not  of  the  Infinite. 

ISTo  one  denies  that  the  individual  plant,  the  indi- 
vidual animal,  develops  according  to  its  species.  Only 
because  it  is  known  how  the  species  of  the  plant,  or 
the  race  of  the  animal  develops,  is  the  proper  mode 
of  nursing  or  rearing  the  individual  known.  Accord- 
ing to  the  modifications  of  the  treatment  demanded 
by  nature,  according  as  her  laws  are  complied  with  or 
violated,  so  individual  character  develops.  This  is 
strikingly  shown  in  the  case  of  domestic  animals; 
though  of  the  same  race,  one  is  docile,  faithful  and 
affectionate,  another  cross,  snappish  and  obstinate, 
according  to  the  treatment  received. 

We  have  seen  then,  first:  that  the  manifestations  of 
each  being  bear  the  impress  of  the  species  to  which  it 
belongs,  and  that  man  forms  no  exception;  second: 
that  the  instinctive,  unpremeditated  manifestations, 
common  to  all  individuals  of  the  same  species,  serve 
the  end  of  their  development.  The  savage  impelled 
by  inner  impulse,  and  influenced  by  outer  attraction, 
exerts  himself  to  supply  his  bodily  necessities — to 


54 


maintain  existence,  and  make  it  comfortable  according 
to  his  notion  of  comfort;  the  child,  from  like  impulse 
and  attraction,  plays,  and  works  in  play;  but  both  are 
unconscious  that  the  end  served  by  their  exertions,  is 
their  development.  The  history  of  the  culture  of  the 
human  race,  shows  us  that  in  the  endeavor  to  satisfy 
physical  wants,  to  obtain  food,  raiment,  protection 
from  storms  and  wild  beasts,  and,  later,  in  the  effort 
to  satisfy  spiritual  desires,  in  social  intercourse,  in 
communication  of  truth,  and  in  seeking  expression  for 
the  beautiful,  man  was  led  to  invent  all  that  is  now 
ours  in  the  departments  of  industry,  art  and  science. 
As,  in  the  stage  of  unconsciousness,  man  was  prepared 
for  the  succeeding  one  of  higher  development  and  cul- 
ture, which,  in  its  turn,  led  to  self-consciousness  and 
a recognition  of  its  destiny,  so,  in  like  manner,  the 
playful  activity  of  the  child  should  serve  to  prepare  it 
for  its  subsequent  conscious  personality.  This  is  only 
attained  when  the  childish  groping  and  attempting 
are  regulated,  and  when  education  furnishes  the 
means.  To  do  this  is  the  design  of  Frcebel’s  Kinder- 
garten. In  it  he  intended  to  have  children  pass  through 
the  same  stages  of  development,  on  a small  scale,  that 
have  marked  the  development  of  the  human  race,  and 
so  gain  similar  experiences  to  fit  them  for  future  life 
work,  for  self-consciousness  and  a comprehension  of 
the  great  problem  of  existence. 


Chapter  IY. 


The  Child’s  Education. 


Education  is  deliverance,  deliverance  of  the  fettered 
forces  of  body  and  mind.  The  inner  conditions  for 
this  deliverance  every  healthy  child  brings  into  the 
world.  The  outer  conditions  must  be  supplied  by  edu- 
cation. In  spring  time,  in  order  that  the  hard  outer 
coverings  of  the  buds  may  burst,  and  the  germs  of 
leaves  and  flowers  be  set  free  and  expand,  air,  sun- 
shine, rain  and  dew  must  be  allowed  them.  The  inner 
germinal  force  bursts  the  coverings,  if  outer  condi- 
tions are  favorable.  In  nature,  a need  always  brings 
its  supply,  and  the  processes  of  nature  without  arbi- 
trariness are  according  to  rules  and  laws.  In  a plant, 
the  flow  of  the  sap,  as  it  regularly  ascends  and  de- 
scends from  roots  to  crown,  and  crown  to  roots,  by 
contraction  and  expansion,  forming  knotty  and  intri- 
cate points,  resembles  the  circulation  of  the  blood  in 
animal  and  human  organisms,  proceeding,  as  it  does, 
from  the  heart,  returning  to  the  heart,  and  represent- 
ing contraction  and  expansion  through  the  action  of 
the  lungs. 

In  the  different  realms  of  nature,  everything  obeys 


56 


an  eternal,  universal  law,  and  development  is  synon- 
ymous with  lawfulness;  it  is  progress  according  to 
laws,  progress  from  the  formless  to  the  formed,  from 
undevelopment  to  development.  Mental  and  spiritual, 
as  well  as  bodily  development,  must  proceed  accord- 
ing to  law,  otherwise  education  would  be  impossible. 
For  we  call  the  influence  we  bring  to  bear  upon  the 
development  of  the  child,  to  regulate  it,  to  guide  it 
intellectually  and  morally  as  well  as  physically,  edu- 
cation; and  how  can  that  which  proceeds  without  or- 
der or  law;  that  which  is  arbitrary  and  incalculable 
in  its  manifestations,  be  regulated  and  guided?  Must 
not,  therefore,  the  spiritual,  or  soul  development,  fol- 
low a lawful  circuit,  similar  to  the  organic  circulation, 
for  certainly  the  organs  and  the  mind  which  they 
serve,  are  in  relation  as  cause  and  effect  ? Psychology 
has  discovered  the  laws  of  the  soul’s  development,  as 
physiology  has  discovered  the’  laws  of  the  circulation 
of  the  blood;  but  the  former  has  occupied  itself  chief- 
ly with  the  already  formed  souls  of  grown  persons, 
that  have,  by  self-determination  and  deviation  from 
the  lawful  and  normal  state,  fallen  into  a certain  de- 
gree of  arbitrariness,  the  abnormal  condition  that 
we  name  evil;  for  as  the  violation  of  physical  laws 
causes  disease,  so  the  violation  of  moral  laws  causes 
moral  evil  or  sin.  Wrong  culture  has  demoralized 
man,  and  the  intentions  of  the  Creator  concerning 
him  have  not  been  rightly  understood.  Frcebel  said: 

If  you  wish  to  study  the  laws  of  nature,  in  plants 
for  instance,  you  must  study  the  simple,  the  wild 


57 


plants,  commonly  called  weeds,  in  preference  to  cul- 
tivated ones  with  all  their  complications.’’  From  this 
we  must  not  infer  that  man  should  be  left  in  his  primi- 
tive, uncultured  state,  but  that  the  human  soul  is  to 
be  studied  in  its  simplicity.  The  young  human  plant, 
in  its  instinctive,  primitive  state,  uncalculating,  un- 
spoiled by  false  culture,  presents  to  the  observer  who 
is  capable  of  seeing  and  understanding  them,  the 
laws  and  the  logical  processes  of  development  despite 
individual  differences. 

We  have  seen  already  that  certain  manifestations 
are  common  to  all  children,  and  that  thus  the  species 
is  marked  in  each  individual.  Through  such  common 
manifestations,  we  find  a basis  for  the  recognition  of 
the  laws  of  childish  development,  inasmuch  as  these 
traits  are  repeated  in  each  individual,  and  are  there- 
fore a rule.  Frcebel  says,  there  is  perfect  connection 
in  human  life,  as  there  is  entire  harmony  everywhere 
in  nature.  Certainly  we  cannot  err  in  saying  that  the 
eternal  lawfulness  which  lives  in  the  universe,  must 
also  determine  the  development  of  the  human  soul. 
The  educator  whose  office  it  is  to  carry  light  or 
warmth,  rain  or  dew,  to  the  human  bud  in  the  right 
manner,  that  it  may  be  incited  to  free  itself  from  bond- 
age, and  by  development  and  expansion  of  all  its 
slumbering  faculties  and  powers  to  produce  finally  the 
rare  blossom  of  self-consciousness, — such  a one  must 
not  only  know  the  laws  of  development,  but  he  must 
possess  and  apply  the  means  to  attain  this  result.  His 
mode  of  education  must  be  a lawful  process  like  that 


58 


of  nature;  it  must  be  methodical  with  a correspond- 
ence in  its  outward  means. 

It  will  not  be  disputed  that  instruction  deserves  the 
name  only  when  it  is  methodical.  Instruction  is  but  a 
branch  of  education,  and  it  is  evident  that  the  tree 
must  have  the  same  root  and  ground  as  the  branch. 
Much  as  has  been  done,  from  antiquity  up  to  our  own 
time,  to  improve  education  and  instruction;  much  as 
has  been  accomplished  even,  in  adapting  methods  of 
instruction  to  natural  development,  and  in  obtaining 
knowledge  by  the  easiest  and  best  ways, — still  the 
laws  of  childish  intellectual  development  have  hitherto 
been  wrapped  in  darkness.  The  magnet  unerringly 
shows  the  mariner  how  to  guide  his  ship  over  the 
ocean,  according  to  its  individual  destination,  but  no 
such  safe  guide  has  been  found  for  the  educator,  in 
his  work  of  guiding  individual  character  toward  its 
true  end.  So  long  as  no  firm,  unswerving  educational 
method  is  known,  every  kind,  even  the  best,  seems 
merely  arbitrary,  or  at  hap-hazard.  Pestalozzi’s 
principal  aim  was  to  find  and  apply  what  he  called, 
^Hhe  principle  of  the  organic”,  to  bring  instruction 
into  harmony  with  nature.  Whatever  knowledge  we 
have  gained  hitherto  of  the  mode  of  childish  develop- 
ment, we  owe  to  him  and  his  predecessors,  as  well  as 
some  of  the  means  of  applying  their  principle.  But 
for  them,  Frcebel  might  not  have  worked  out  his 
method,  as  their  conclusions  were  his  starting  point, 
and  their  hints  and  practical  endeavors  he  carried  on 
toward  perfection.  Perhaps  Frobbel’s  successors  may 


59 


further  develop  his  ideas,  but  another  basis  than  his 
can  scarcely  be  found,  since  it  is  that  of  nature  and 
truth.  He  aimed,  he  says,  to  find  a lawful  proceeding, 
or  method  of  education^  such  as  educational  science 
had  long  aimed  to  find  for  instruction;  and  in  his  sys- 
tem the  two  are  combined — instruction^  having  for 
its  chief  end  intellectual  development,  and  education 
looking  mainly  to  moral  development,  or  formation  of 
character.  The  principal  requirement  for  this,  is 
freedom  of  individual  activity,  room  for  the  develop- 
ment of  individual  characteristics.  In  our  present 
schools  all  such  activity  is  repressed;  children  are 
made  to  sit  still,  and  on  the  playground,  where  the 
teacher  might  observe  how  the  children  carried  out 
his  moral  precepts,  they  are  generally  left  entirely 
without  surveillance  or  guidance. 

But,  it  is  asked,  how  can  there  be  a law  for  all  ? 
Does  not  the  diversity  in  creation  rest  upon  the  one- 
ness of  the  Creator  ? Are  not  all  the  heavenly  bodies 
subject  to  the  law  of  gravitation,  and  does  this  hinder 
individual  characteristics?  We  may  accept  as  certain 
that  each  world  is  different  in  its  organization  and 
productions  from  every  other.  So  in  one  forest  differ- 
ent plants  and  trees  grow  and  thrive  under  the  same 
general  conditions  of  soil,  climate,  etc.,  because  each 
individual  appropriates  of  the  outward  conditions  that 
which  is  according  to  its  individuality— always  the 
lawful  alone.  In  the  universe,  it  is  only  law  guiding 
motion  that  makes  freedom  possible,  and  prevents  de- 
structive conflicts,  so  in  the  nursery  or  kindergarten 


60 


as  well  as  in  the  State,  only  by  government  according 
to  law  can  freedom  be  attained,  freedom  of  each  by 
freedom  of  all.  That  education  should  be  according 
to  nature,  nearly  all,  at  least,  of  the  modern  educators, 
demand  as  an  essential  condition,  but  according  to 
nature  is  according  to  law. 

It  is  lawful  and  according  to  nature  that  the  pro- 
gressive development  of  single  individuals,  as  well  as 
of  humanity,  needs  in  each  of  its  stages  new  conditions, 
new  means  and  aids.  The  glass  cover  that  shielded 
the  germ,  can  no  more  cover  the  full  grown  tree;  a 
grown  up  man  can  wear  his  little  frock  no  more.  Tlie 
conditions  of  life,  in  each  epoch  of  history,  in  each 
generation,  change,  inasmuch  as  the  requirements  of 
each  are  heightened  or  raised;  therefore  the  education 
of  our  time  makes  higher  and  more  comprehensive  de- 
mands of  us  than  were  made  of  the  generations  before 
us.  Our  forefathers,  living  in  forests  and  clad  in  bear- 
skins, met  the  requirements  of  their  time,  when  they 
taught  the  boy  to  use  bow  and  lance,  to  guide  a horse 
in  the  chase  and  in  war,  to  know  the  rights  and  duties 
traditionally  theirs,  and  the  peculiar  ritual  of  their  wor- 
ship; when  they  instructed  the  girl  in  the  virtues  of 
her  sex,  in  cooking,  spinning,  weaving,  and  nursing 
the  sick.  Such  demands  did  not  suffice  in  the  later 
period  of  chivalry;  but  even  the  culture  of  the  knights 
and  their  dames,  does  not  satisfy  the  requirements 
of  our  time,  because  all  the  conditions  of  life  have 
changed. 

With  these  conditions,  the  being  of  man  likewise 


61 


changes,  in  a measure,  bodily,  spiritually  and  mental- 
ly; not  primarily,  not  in  form  or  shape  of  his  body, 
not  wholly  in  his  propensities,  inclinations,  passions, 
or  in  the  processes  of  thinking,  feeling  and  willing. 
Man  has  still  the  same  organization,  he  enjoys  and 
suffers  according  to  impressions  received,  he  thinks 
and  aspires  in  a human  way.  But  is  there  no  differ- 
ence between  a barbarian  and  a cultivated  man,  not 
only  in  outward  appearance  and  manifestations,  but 
in  inclinations,  aims,  thought  and  will  ? The  bodily 
formation  of  the  working  classes  is  usually  modified  in 
this,  that  their  bone  and  muscle  formation  is  more 
prominent,  while  in  those  of  a more  intellectual  mode 
of  life  the  nervous  organization  is  predominant.  The 
structure  of  the  head  of  a thinker  differs  greatly  from 
that  of  a savage  or  a mere  mechanical  worker.  This 
difference  is  transmitted  to  the  children;  they  not  only 
inherit  the  physical  constitution  of  their  forefathers, 
but  very  often  they  also  inherit  their  mental  and  moral 
qualities.  The  child  of  a Bushman  is  horn  differently 
organized  from  the  child  of  a civilized  European,  and 
the  child  of  the  nineteenth  century  is  born  differently 
organized  from  one  born  in  the  first  century  of  our 
time,  because  the  progress  of  the  race  will  express  it- 
self also  in  the  individual. 

In  plants  and  animals,  wc  see  very  clearly  the  modi- 
fication produced  by  culture.  The  wild  carrot,  for 
instance,  had  to  go  through  twenty  generations  of 
cultivation  before  it  became  eatable,  while,  if  lefb  to 
itself,  without  care  or  culture  for  five  generations,  it 


62 


relapses  into  a wild  state.  The  breeder  of  horses 
knows  very  well  that  the  descendant  of  a noble  race  is 
itself  noble,  and  requires  greater  care  and  nursing  than 
that  of  a common  breed.  And  again  experience  teaches 
us  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  educate  the  child  of  coarse, 
brutal  parents  for  a higher,  more  cultivated  life.  The 
science  of  mankind  has  not  advanced  far  enough  to  be 
able  to  show  up  and  fathom  the  mighty  influence  of 
mental  culture  on  our  physical  and  psychical  organism; 
but  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  higher  the  culture  of 
a people  is,  the  better  endowed  its  children  will  be 
born. 

With  the  recognition  of  this  truth,  the  necessity  for 
a progressive  mode  of  education  must  be  admitted; 
and  all  those  who  think  that  what  was  formerly  con- 
sidered good  and  sufficient  must  be  good  and  sufficient 
now,  are  mistaken.  But  each  time  and  generation  has 
certainly  some  good  features,  and  this  in  a reform  is 
generally  lost  sight  of.  If  we  must  admit  that  there  is 
a great  advance  in  the  modes  and  appliances  for  in- 
struction^ it  is  equally  certain  that  the  preceding  gen- 
eration, so  far  as  education  is  concerned,  was  ahead 
of  us.  Principles  of  integrity  and  morals,  force  of 
character,  and  religious  fervor,  the  foundation  of  a 
true  education,  were  far  more  developed  among  our 
forefathers  than  they  are  now.  The  physical  culture 
of  the  ancient  Greeks,  their  training  for  the  develop- 
ment of  strength,  beauty  and  dexterity,  are  not  known 
among  us.  Then  it  cannot  be  denied  that  a one-sided 
development  of  one  faculty  of  the  mind  has  prevailed, 


63 


and  a senseless,  shalloTv*  memorizing  of  facts,  in  almost 
all  branches  of  knowledge,  is  characteristic  of  our  time. 
Who  can  close  the  eyes  on  those  evils  that  present 
themselves  so  glaringly  in  our  generation,  and  which 
are  the  cause  of  great  misery  I A part  of  the  respon- 
sibility for  these  results,  education  has  to  take  upon  it- 
self. We  see  everywhere  knowing  without  doing, 
doing  without  creative  power, — thinking,  before  imag- 
ination and  sentiment,  or  feelings,  have,  as  the  germ 
and  blossom,  prepared  the  way  for  this  fruit.  We  see 
understanding  without  achievement,  the  conquering 
of  matter  and  material  forces  merely  to  make  them 
serviceable  for  the  gratification  of  the  senses;  we  find 
no  veneration  for  the  Spirit  of  God  animating  the 
universe,  no  faith  in  Divine  Providence,  but  instead  of 
these  man’s  intellect  worshipped  and  considered  his 
highest  tribunal.  The  feeling  of  childlike  trust  and  de- 
pendence on  our  Heavenly  Father,  is  dying  out,  be- 
cause its  source,  spontaneity  of  feeling,  is  early  dried 
up;  the  external^  the  most  unimportant,  is  made  the 
most  im.xjortant;  learning  is  only  taking  up  what  is 
given,  which  destroys  originality  and  inherent  power. 
On  all  sides,  we  hear  a clamor  for  new  rights,  without 
any  consideration  that  there  are  also  duties  to  per- 
form. And  because  it  is  so,  a sense  of  suffering  goes 
through  the  world,  a painful  seeking  for  never-reached 
happiness  agitates  mankind,  even  amidst  sensuous 
pleasures;  and,  notwithstanding  all  the  gratification 
that  riches  and  luxury  can  give,  a painful  sense  of 
want  and  emptiness,  a longing  for  something  higher 


64 


and  more  ideal  is,  if  not  consciously  felt,  still  there. 
We  wait  for  the  magic  word  that  shall  create  a new 
world,  a new  generation  capable  of  great  deeds,  and 
able  to  understand  the  new  revelations  which  God  has 
in  store  for  us. — Who  is  to  speak  this  word? 


Every  radical  reform,  in  whatever  sphere,  needs 
always  a new  truth,  a new,  original  idea  for  its  founda- 
tion. But  such  an  idea,  in  its  generalization,  seldom 
appears  entirely  new;  the  pages  of  history  show  that 
it  had  been  proclaimed,  in  a different  form,  by  think- 
ers of  other  ages,  and  the  same  idea  always  recurring 
may  at  different  epochs  have  been  striving  for  embodi- 
ment. If  this  is  the  case,  then  we  may  be  sure  that 
it  is  a very  important  truth,  whose  solution,  though 
often  attempted,  has  not  yet  been  realized.  Often 
only  one  happy  hit  is  needed  to  make  this  long  pro- 
pounded problem  a reality  Whether  Fecebel  has 


* In  a Journal  of  Athens,  Greece,  ^^The  PoliMstor'%  we  find:  “M. 
Betant,  Professor  of  Greek  literature  in  Geneva,  has  had  the  kind- 
ness to  send  us  some  Journals  and  Pamphlets  about  Kindergar- 
tens lately  established.  We  have  examined  this  method  in  its 
principal,  leading  ideas,  and  in  its  particulars,  and  have  found,  to 
our  great  surprise,  the  development  and  realization  of  what,  thou- 
sands of  years  ago,  our  divine  Plato  considered  the  main  point  in 
the  development  of  man  from  infancy.  In  adapting  education 
in  the  kindergartens  to  nature,  and  admitting  to  them  those  of 
the  most  tender  age,  no  other  means  than  play  are  resorted  to. 


65 


had  such  a happy  conception  in  matters  of  educa- 
tion for  giving  it  a new  foundation,  experience  in  the 
application  and  carrying  out  of  his  system  must  de- 
monstrate to  those  who  cannot  gain  this  conviction  by 
becoming  acquainted  with  the  ideas  he  embodied  in 
his  writings  and  institutions, — they  will  have  to  wait 


Plato  had  the  same  ideas,  as  we  shall  perceive  on  turning  to  a 
paragraph  in  his  “Laws”  : ‘I  say  that  it  has  been  hitherto  over- 
looked in  all  States  that  plays  have  the  mightiest  influence  on  the 
maintenance  or  non-maintenance  of  laws,  for  if  those  plays  are 
conducted  according  to  laws  or  rules,  and  children  always  pursue 
their  amusements  in  the  same  manner  and  find  pleasure  in  it,  it 
is  not  to  be  feared  that  they  will  break  laws,  the  end  of  which  is 
more  serious.’  In  “The  Eepublic”  Plato  again  expresses  himself 
in  much  the  same  manner.  He  says  : ‘ From  the  first  years,  the 
plays  of  children  ought  to  be  subject  to  strict  laws,  for  if  those 
plays,  and  those  who  take  part  in  them,  are  arbitrary  and  lawless, 
how  can  children  ever  become  virtuous  men,  abiding  by  and  obe- 
dient to  law  ? If,  on  the  contrary,  children  are  early  trained  to 
submit  to  law  in  their  plays,  the  love  for  those  laws  enters  their 
souls  with  the  music  accompanying  them,  never  leaves  them,  and 
helps  in  their  development.’  In  scrutinizing  Fbcebel’s  method, 
it  is  strikingly  evident  that  it  is  nothing  else  than  a detailed  com- 
mentary on  these  words  of  Plato,  which  have  hitherto  remained 
unintelligible,  unfathomed  and  unappreciated. 

It  is  easily  to  be  seen  that,  in  our  time,  when  so  many  new 
schemes  of  education  have  been  discussed,  Fecebel  alone  has  car- 
ried out  the  suggestion  that  Plato  gave  in  his  beautiful  language, 
and  made  play  the  basis  of  his  grand  educational  scheme,  play 
which  he  has  developed  organically  in  all  its  directions.  The 
anarchy  or  arbitrariness  of  play  he  subjects  to  laws;  he  subjects  it 
even  to  the  laws  of  rhythm,  as  Plato  says,  because  so  many  of  his 
plays  are  accompanied  by  music.” 


66 


to  see  the  results  embodied  in  those  children  that  have 
been  educated  according  to  his  principles. 

The  most  difficult  of  all  difficult  things  certainly  is 
to  give  a generally  acceptable  definition  of  a new 
truth,  small  or  great,  that  lies  so  much  beyond  the 
common  apprehension  of  people.  Therefore  it  was 
not  easy  for  Froebel  to  make  himself  understood,  and 
his  complaint  that  he  was  not  comprehended  was  justi- 
fied, for  in  his  time  he  was  only  understood  by  a few. 
Still  he  succeeded  in  impressing  all  of  his  immediate 
disciples  with  the  importance  of  his  ideas,  and  the 
sacred  mission  devolving  upon  them;  and  they  have 
succeeded  so  far  that  they  have  disseminated  those 
ideas  in  all  civilized  countries. 

Intellectual  development  likewise  proceeds  accord- 
ing to  distinct  laws;  these  correspond  to  the  laws  that 
govern  the  universe,  being  only  heightened  for  the 
higher  grades  of  development.  We  must  be  able  to 
trace  this  lawfulness  to  a fundamental  law,  dffierent 
as  its  modes  of  expression  may  be  on  the  higher  plane. 
Frgebel  calls  it,  as  many  thinkers  before  him  did,  the 
law  of  contrasts  and  their  connection,  or  the  law  of 
equipoise.  There  exists  nothing  to  which  it  is  not  ap- 
plicable, for  everything  that  exists  is  a connected  con- 
trast. One  proposition  always  presupposes  a counter 
position.  God  pre-supposes  the  universe,  and  the  uni- 
verse presupposes  God;  man  connects  nature,  or  rela- 
tive unconsciousness,  with  God,  or  absolute  conscious- 
ness. The  interior  and  exterior  of  an  object  are  con- 
trasts which  are  connected  by  the  object  itself  and 


made  one.  In  nature  this  law  also  manifests  itself  as 
interchange  of  matter.  All  organisms  have  the  proper- 
ty of  secreting  or  eliminating  substances,  and,  as  a 
contrast,  of  assimilating,  attracting,  sucking  up  what 
other  organisms  have  thrown  off  or  eliminated.  This 
is  a process  of  giving  and  taking,  which  is  by  assimila- 
tion connected  in  the  mode  peculiar  to  each  substance. 
This  is  the  interchange,  by  which  the  material  world 
is  in  constant  reciprocal  intercourse  which  holds  it 
and,  as  it  were,  blends  it. 

In  the  world  of  intellect,  the  same  law  operates  in 
an  analogous  manner.  Intellectual  development  is 
also  interchange  of  matter  in  a spiritual  sense.  From 
without,  the  soul  takes  in  its  store  of  impressions  or 
perceptions  through  the  senses,  to  work  them  interior- 
ly into  thoughts  and  conceptions,  in  order  to  manifest 
them  again  outwardly  as  words  and  actions.  Without 
the  society  and  communion  of  other  men,  man  would 
never  learn  to  think  or  speak.  The  process  of  thought 
is  impossible  without  comparison;  in  order  to  compare, 
there  must  be  differences;  the  most  distinct  differences 
form  relative  contrasts  which  find  a connection  in  that 
which  has  points  of  resemblance  to  each.  Thinking, 
therefore,  is  a connection  of  contrasts,  or  opposites,  in 
the  mind.  This  is  also  the  law  of  centrifugal  and 
centripetal  force,  aud  the  processes  of  inhaling  and 
exhaling,  of  contraction  and  expansion,  may  serve  to 
exemplify  the  same. 

This  long  recognized  law  Frcebel  applied  to  edu- 
cation, reasoning  thus:  as  this  law  is  active  in  the 


68 


process  of  intellectual  development  in  earliest  child- 
hood, in  the  period  of  unconsciousness, — that  is  to 
say,  that  as  the  unaided  development  of  the  child 
must  proceed  according  to  this  law, — therefore  it  is 
the  natural,  necessary  law  of  the  human  soul,  which 
education  has  to  take  into  account,  if  it  aims  at  pro- 
ceeding according  to  nature. 

This  is  done  when  the  educator  in  his  method  ap- 
plies this  law,  and  induces  the  child  also  to  apply  it 
in  his  activity  or  work.  This  should  be  done  even  from 
the  beginning  of  childish  development,  from  the  period 
of  dawning  consciousness,  which  is  the  starting  point 
of  all  that  is  to  come  afterward.  By  doing  this,  the 
future  more  or  less  conscious  proceeding  of  the  human 
mind  will  be  prepared  for,  while  by  a contrary  or 
wrong  proceeding  it  will  be  hampered  instead  of  aided. 
For  instance:  the  child  receives,  through  the  senses, 
from  its  very  birth,  impressions  from  without;  it  feels 
warmth  and  cold,  perceives  light  and  darkness,  learns 
by  and  by  to  distinguish  hard  things  and  soft,  solids 
and  liquids,  near  objects  and  distant  objects,  etc.  All 
these  are  pointed  contrasts.  The  senses  in  their  un- 
developed state  are  unable  to  distinguish  between  a 
hard  object  and  one  a little  less  hard,  between  things 
near  and  those  a very  little  farther  removed.  The 
greater  the  contrast  in  the  qualities  of  things, — not 
the  things  themselves, — in  that  which  constitutes  their 
dilference,  the  more  easily  they  are  distinguished. 
Distinguishing  is  the  first  condition  of  comprehension. 
Is  it  then  not  proper  that  we  should  present  to  the 


69 


child  the  things  which  occupy  its  attention,  in  the  form 
of  contrasts,  in  order  to  facilitate  its  perception  of 
them  ? To  make  it  cognizant  of  size,  we  should  pre- 
sent to  it  one  object  of  comparatively  large  size,  and 
another,  the  same  in  kind,  of  a comparatively  small 
size;  in  order  to  make  it  see  difference  in  colors,  we 
should  give  it  two  primary  colors  in  strong  contrast, 
etc.  In  Frgebel’s  second  gift,  the  sphere,  a surface 
without  corners  or  faces  (planesj,  and  the  cube,  with 
many  faces,  corners  and  edges,  are  connected  in  the  cy- 
linder which,  with  its  half-round  surface  of  the  sphere, 
and  half-plane  surface  and  edges  of  the  cube,  is  the 
connection  of  the  two  opposites.  This  gift  serves  as 
a good  illustration  of  the  law. 

By  means  of  these  forms,  the  child  receives,  through 
the  sense  of  sight,  impressions, — nothing  else;  but 
from  impressions  arise  perception  and  will,  and  sub- 
sequently understanding  and  thinking;  therein  lies  the 
importance  of  first  impressions.  A child  so  trained 
will  have  clearer  perceptions  than  if  left  to  mere 
chance  development. 

As  God,  the  Creator,  has  in  all  his  creation  con- 
nected contrasts,  or  opposites,  in  order  to  produce 
harmony,  man  also  in  his  works  ought  to  proceed  in 
this  way.  The  musician  finds  the  accord  by  connect- 
ing two  contrasting  sounds  by  a third;  the  painter 
combines  the  opposites  of  light  and  shade  by  middle 
tints;  the  weaver  draws  the  threads  of  his  cloth  in 
perpendicular  and  horizontal  lines.  The  child  in  the 
kindergarten  weaves  and  twists  in  the  same  manner; 


^0 


it  lays  one  stick  perpendicularly,  another  horizontally, 
and  connects  the  two  by  laying  a third  obliquely.  It 
takes  the  same  stick  that  was  perpendicular,  and 
places  it  in  the  position  of  the  horizontal,  and  so  learns 
that  one  contrast  may  be  turned  into  the  other,  as  in 
planting  a tree  with  the  branches  downward  and  the 
roots  upward,  the  roots  become  branches  and  the 
branches  roots.  Frcebel  calls  this  law,  ^ ‘ The  oppo- 
site likes.”  The  child  applying  this  simple  law,  in 
thousands  of  different  ways  in  his  plays,  is  led  to 
create  or  invent;  for  to  create  for  man  is  nothing  else 
than  to  produce  from  that  which  is  given,  by  means 
of  combination,  variety  of  forms  and  effects.  Without 
law  or  method,  this  is  not  possible;  the  proceeding  in 
each  work  of  industry  as  well  as  of  art,  is  in  its  funda- 
mental traits  according  to  law. 

If  the  child  has  always  applied  this  fundamental 
law  in  the  development  of  its  own  mind,  in  all  its  little 
productions,  even  in  play,  without  knowing  anything 
further  about  it  than  that  by  its  simple  application  it 
can  produce  the  most  manifold  forms,  shapes,  and 
figures,  still  much  more  has  in  this  wise  been  done  to 
prepare  for  future  studies  than  could  have  been  at- 
tained by  any  other  mode.  To  arrange,  to  classify, 
to  distribute,  without  which  no  true  instruction,  no 
clear  thinking  can  be,  has  become  the  life  element  and 
habit.  Clearness  or  distinctness  in  feeling,  willing 
and  thinking  or  perceiving,  is  the  only  true  and  sure 
foundation  of  all  culture. 

Therefore  education  should  be  first  required  to  give 


11 


support,  according  to  natural  laws,  to  the  develop- 
ment of  free  activity,  to  take  into  consideration  the  out- 
ward given  conditions  of  each  epoch  of  time,  of  each 
peculiarity.  In  short,  the  perception  and  application 
of  the  universal  laws  of  spiritual  development  are  re- 
quired,— spiritual  being  used  in  the  widest  sense  ap- 
plicable to  intellect  as  well  as  to  morals  and  religion. 

Nobody  will  deny  that  any  practical  invention,  how- 
ever small,  to  bring  education  into  conformity  with 
the  laws  of  our  being  and  the  demands  of  our  time,  is 
of  the  greatest  importance,  and  must  serve  to  shorten 
and  accelerate  the  process  of  remodelling  society.  A 
new  time  needs  new  aiTd  better  human  beings;  to  pro- 
duce them,  education  cannot  do  all  still  it  can  do  a 
great  deal. 


72 


Chapter  Y. 

The  Child’s  Education. 

(Continued.) 

Poor  Childhood,  how  many  wrongs  have  been  com- 
mitted against  thee ! The  grown  man  has  weapons 
of  defence  in  his  encounters  with  suffering,  but  help- 
less childhood  is  exposed  to  all  the  blows  of  wrong 
treatment  or  cold  neglect.  Even  tenderness,  misap- 
plied, does  great  harm,  and  may  co-exist  with  the 
worst  neglect.  Many  mothers  fondly  caress  their 
children,  who  do  not  administer  even  to  their  higher 
spiritual  wants,  but  turn  them  over  to  nurses  who  may 
possibly  be  affectionate  and  faithful,  but  who  are  in- 
competent to  feed  the  souls  of  their  charges.  So  the 
poor  defenceless  child  receives  many  a wound  in  the 
very  beginning  of  life.  If  childhood  were  more  care- 
fully guarded,  how  many  less  despairing  and  desperate 
human  beings  there  would  be ! Much  has  been  said 
and  written  about  the  importance  of  first  impressions, 
and  yet  what  terrible  negligence  with  regard  to  them 
in  this  germinal  period  of  the  human  soul ! How  care- 
fully nature  shields  her  germs,  the  buds  in  plants  and 
trees^  and  how  little  parents  do  in  this  respect! 


A young  and  tender  leaf  pierced  with  the  finest  needle, 
bears  the  mark,  all  through  its  existence,  as  a con- 
stantly widening  and  hardening  knot  in  its  structure. 
Many  such  needle-pricks  does  the  young  soul  receive 
in  childhood,  which  in  time  turn  into  deformities — 
bad  habits,  faults,  and  vices.  Is  there  a single  indi- 
vidual who  has  not  had  to  bear, — sometimes  a heavy 
burden, — the  consequence  of  neglect  in  childhood? 
In  infancy  each  man  has  the  roots  of  his  whole  being, 
and  as  the  root,  so  the  tree.  The  criminal  and  the 
good  man,  if  they  could  look  back  through  the  whole 
of  their  lives,  would  easily  trace,  the  one  his  bad  and 
the  other  his  good  deeds,  to  the  roots  resting  in  early 
childhood.  The  cause  of  moral,  as  well  as  of  physical 
diseases,  is  partly  to  be  found  in  the  inborn  disposi- 
tion, a heritage  from  parents  or  ancestors;  but  it  de- 
pends greatly  upon  the  first  nursing  and  education 
whether  they  will  be  smothered  or  developed.  To  a 
certain  degree  every  faulty  disposition  can  be  over- 
come. 

Almost  all,  especially  young  fond  mothers,  think 
that  their  children,  resting  so  softly  imbedded  in  their 
love,  are  not  to  be  pitied,  that  with  every  rough  air 
all  moral  evil  is  likewise  excluded.  And  j^et  how  much 
sorrow  proceeds  from  that  too  great  tenderness  in 
mothers,  which  lacks  wisdom  and  enervates  body  and 
soul ! But  what  young  mother,  in  any  sphere  of  so- 
ciety, enters  upon  the  maternal  relation  fully  prepared 
for  her  duties  and  her  mission  as  an  educator  of  her 
children?  Seldom  does  she  possess  knowledge  so  far 


as  healthful  conditions  for  their  physical  development 
are  concerned.  Or  if  she  knows,  is  she  willing  to  take 
the  exclusive  care  of  her  child  ? and  if  she  employs 
others,  does  she  always  carefully  watch  that  they  do 
not  give  anything  hurtful  to  the  child,  or  treat  it  other- 
wise than  they  should?  Sometimes  the  seeds  of  future 
disease  are  laid  in  early  childhood.  Health  is  very 
essential,  it  gives  strength  to  work  and  to  do  good; 
sickly  children  are  petted  and  spoiled,  and,  if  they  live, 
are  unfit  for  the  various  duties  of  mature  life. 

But  the  moral,  or  rather  immoral,  impressions  re- 
ceived in  early  childhood,  are  often  more  pernicious 
even  than  physical  injuries.  The  seeming  passivity  of 
the  young  being  often  misleads,  in  regard  to  its  keen 
susceptibility  to  impressions  from  without.  It  is  gen- 
erally supposed  that  it  is  insensible  to  disorder,  un- 
cleanliness, rudeness,  and  want  of  beauty  in  its  sur- 
roundings, but  these  first  impressions  mark  the  stand- 
point from  which  it  regards  the  world.  It  is  said  that 
each  of  us  is  the  child  of  his  time  and  of  his  nation- 
ality, and  in  this  is  expressed  the  truth  that  we  reflect 
the  impressions  of  our  immediate  and  somewhat  ex- 
tended surroundings.  In  this  sense,  we  may  also  say, 
each  is  the  child  of  his  family,  his  nurse,  his  nursery, 
his  school,  his  playmates,  for  his  time  and  nation  are 
reflected  in  them.  The  stamp  which  body  and  soul 
show  at  a later  period,  in  which  the  individuality  of 
each  consists,  is  traceable  to  first  impressions  that  fell 
like  rain  or  sunshine  on  the  natural,  inborn  disposi- 
tion. The  boy  who  is  brought  up  in  the  tumult  of  war 


and  camp-life,  will  have  a dilferent  impress  from  one 
brought  up,  in  peaceful  retirement,  among  the  flowers 
of  the  garden.  The  Spartans  and  the  Athenians  lived 
in  the  same  country,  under  the  same  climate,  at  the 
same  epoch,  and  yet  how  differently  custom  and  cul- 
ture colored  the  characters  of  the  people.  Custom 
and  culture  proceed  from  education, — that  which  is 
given  and  that  which  is  taken.  That  which  is  princi- 
pally given,  is  merely  the  education  which  fits  the 
human  being  to  take,  at  a later  period,  that  which  is 
needed. 

Certainly,  few  errors  breed  so  much  evil,  and  hin- 
der the  development  of  the  good  in  humanity  so  much 
as  that  of  regarding  the  child,  in  the  flrst  years  of  its 
life,  merely  as  a physical  being.  The  great  majority 
of  mothers  think  that  at  this  period  the  soul  is  entire- 
ly unimpressible  and  without  wants.  We  have  even 
heard  mothers  call  their  children  little  animals.  But 
if  the  soul  manifests  itself  later,  it  must  have  been  in 
existence  before,  however  slumber-like  its  state,  and 
must  have  been  awakened  and  strengthened  for  its 
manifestations.  By  what  means  did  it  attain  such  a 
degree  of  development?  By  impressions  gradually 
received  from  without,  by  the  influence  of  its  surround- 
ings. Body  and  soul,  or  the  mind  and  its  organs,  are,  as 
it  were,  in  the  beginning  only  one,  and  seemingly  bodi- 
ly wants  express  themselves  almost  exclusively.  The 
organs  must  gain  strength  before  the  soul  can  use 
them,  but  through  their  development  the  soul  itself 
grows,  and  is  shar  )d  according  to  the  degree  of  their 


16 


development.  Every  bodily  impression — one  on  the 
eye  for  example — is  also  a soul  impression,  and  the 
younger  the  human  being  is,  and  the  less  power  of 
resistance  it  has,  the  stronger  is  this  impression. 
Children  adopt  readily  the  manners,  habits  and  moods 
of  their  attendants,  because  in  their  undevelopment 
they  have  no  power  of  resistance,  no  judgment;  they 
must  appropriate  external  things  to  their  growth,  and 
the  external  is  3"et  mightier  than  they  are  themselves. 
Therefore  they  are  generally  sweet-tempered,  good 
and  contented,  or  cross,  sullen  and  discontented,  ac- 
cording to  the  dispositions  of  those  who  surround 
them.  It  is  wrong  to  suppose  that  the  coarse,  ill 
manners  of  servants  or  nurses,  are  indifferent  to  a 
young  child.  Anger  and  lying  a child  learns  nearly 
always  from  those  around  it.  To  eat  things  forbidden, 
to  nibble  or  junket,  leads  often  to  theft.  Many  a 
promising  youth  has  been  lost,  because  his  mother 
carelessly  left  things  that  he  coveted  lying  about, 
while  she  had  not  trained  him  to  resist  temptation,  or 
to  deny  himself  any  gratification.  Later  in  life,  he 
was  unable  to  endure  privations,  and  gratified  his  de- 
sires at  whatever  cost. 

As  in  a moral  point  of  view,  so  in  an  intellectual 
one,  carelessness  and  thoughtlessness  on  the  part  of 
parents,  in  the  first  years  of  an  infant’s  life,  may  do  a 
great  deal  of  harm.  Much  of  the  mental  confusion, 
the  muddle-headedness  of  our  time,  may  be  traced  to 
the  overcrowding  of  little  children,  one  or  two  years 
old,  with  the  variety  of  toy  rubbish  that  is  given  them. 


How  can  they  ever  master  it  ? How  can  they  gain 
clear,  distinct  impressions  from  such  things  ? Inner 
clearness  proceeds  from  outward  order.  It  would  be 
easier  for  a grown  person  to  take  in,  at  a glance,  all 
the  objects  in  an  industrial  exhibition,  than  for  a 
young  child  to  take  in  and  distinguish  between  all  the 
different  objects  that  are  to  serve  for  the  acquisition 
of  its  knowledge.  It  may  seem  ridiculous  to  speak  of 
the  Icnoioledge  of  an  infant  one  year  old;  but  does  it 
not  learn  about  shape,  color,  material,  size,  number, 
in  short,  about  the  qualities  of  things,  before  it  can 
reason  about  them  ? This  it  does  even  in  the  first 
year  of  its  life. 

It  is  not  expected  that  a child  six  or  seven  years 
old,  with  all  the  necessary  materials,  books,  paper, 
pen  and  ink,  should  learn  to  read  and  write  without 
assistance;  but  it  is  expected  that  a child  up  to  its 
third  year  should  become  acquainted,  without  aid  or 
instruction,  in  a thorough,  practical  manner,  such  as 
is  necessary  to  form  clear  conceptions,  with  all  the 
different  objects  which  surround  it,  and  their  various 
qualities.  Without  the  right  materials  and  without 
help,  it  learns  imperfectly  what  it  ought  to  learn  well 
at  that  early  age  in  preparation  for  school,  be  it  even 
for  a Kindergarten.  Some  conscientious  mothers  oc- 
cupy themselves  a great  deal  with  their  children,  but 
not  knowing  or  understanding  much  about  the  laws 
of  their  mental  development,  they  may  fall  into  grave 
errors,  forcing  and  stimulating  the  little  brains  too 
much,  and  thus  causing  serious  injury.  This  reflection 


induced  Frcebel,  after  he  had  found  and  studied 
those  laws  of  development,  to  write  his  book  for 
the  instruction  of  mothers,'*'  and  to  give  lectures  to 
mothers  and  nurses. 

Through  the  senses,  the  young  soul  receives  the  first 
nourishment  for  the  development  of  the  mind.  As  the 
nature  of  the  first  physical  nourishment  is  of  the  great- 
est importance  in  the  development  of  its  physical  or- 
ganism, so  tho  nature  of  the  first  soul  nourishment 
which  the  child  receives,  is  of  like  importance.  The 
development  of  the  soul  depends,  in  a great  measure, 
not  only  upon  the  full  development  of  the  limbs,  senses, 
and  organs,  but  upon  the  means  by  Avhich  they  are 
developed.  Not  more  eagerly  does  the  sucking  babe 
take  in  the  milk,  than  do  its  senses,  especially  those 
of  which  the  eyes  and  cars  are  organs,  take  in  food 
for  the  soul.  In  this  period,  receptivity  predominates. 
As  the  bee  gathers  honey  from  many  flowers,  so  the 
soul  of  the  child  gathers  impressions  from  many 
images;  these  must  become  perceptions  before  the  first 
signs  of  intellectual  activity  show  themselves.  Up  to 
this  period,  the  soul’s  powers  work  interiorly,  unseen, 
like  the  seed  in  the  ground  before  the  germ  appears; 
but  as  this  germ  perishes,  if  it  is  not  moistened  and 
nursed,  so  many  soul-endowments  perish,  if  they  are 
not  supplied  with  nutriment. 

In  what  then  does  the  first  culture  of  the  young 


* It  is  hoped  that  this  book,  Matter-^  SpieUund  Kose-IAeder'* 
will  be  translated. 


soul  consist  ? Is  it  not  in  impressions  of  the  beautiful, 
the  true,  the  good  ? These  three,  beauty,  truth,  good- 
ness, are  the  aim  of  all  culture,  and  therefore  ought 
also  to  be  the  aim  of  the  culture  of  in^ncy  and  youth. 
Education  must  begin  with  the  ideal,  and  thence  pro- 
ceed to  the  real,  if  each  generation  is  to  realize  new 
ideas.  Imagination  should  be  developed  before  rea- 
son; that  it  is  naturally  exercised  first,  we  see  in  the 
history  of  the  human  race.  It  is  very  important  that 
adequate  food  for  childish  receptivity — reason  being 
undeveloped — should  be  found.  We  have  hitherto  be- 
lieved that  the  feelers  of  the  young  soul  would  find  out 
the  necessary  nutrition,  as  the  instinct  of  animals  finds 
their  proper  food,  and  therefore  children  have  been 
left  to  their  own  resources.  As  little  as  a young  ani- 
mal can  appease  its  hunger  in  a barren  desert,  can 
the  child’s  soul  satisfy  its  hunger,  if  its  surroundings 
contain  nothing  on  which  it  can  feed.  But  are  not  the 
forms,  colors,  sounds  and  materials,  which  might  serve 
as  images  for  the  little  child’s  interior  world,  every- 
where found  in  nature  and  the  outer  world  ? They 
are  certainly  therein  contained,  but  distributed,  not 
collected;  not  arranged  for  the  eye  that  has  not  yet 
seen,  the  ear  that  has  not  yet  heard  anything.  They 
are  not  existing  in  the  elementary  form  which  the  yet 
untrained  senses  require.  Can  the  eye  of  a child,  in 
its  first  years,  see  the  beauty  of  a landscape,  in  its 
variety  of  picturesque  points,  even  if  it  is  represented 
as  a painted  picture  ? Or  can  the  ear  of  a child  have 
an  impression  of  a symphony  of  Beethoven,  even  a 


80 


general  impression?  It  is  impossible;  for  the  organs 
have  not  yet  the  power  to  convey  such  complicated 
impressions,  nor  has  the  soul  the  power  to  comprehend 
them.  Too  stjong,  too  powerful  impressions,  either 
weaken  the  young  senses,  or  leave  the  soul  entirely 
unaifected. 

As  nature  has  prepared  for  the  child,  in  its  mother’s 
milk,  its  fit  bodily  nourishment,  so  the  mother  ought 
to  supply  proper  soul  nourishment.  She  should  col- 
lect objects  to  spread  out  before  the  senses,  so  that 
the  soul  in  its  gropings  may  find  what  is  fit;  and  be- 
sides this  the  mother  should  remove  from  the  child’s 
presence  all  those  things  which  may  be  hurtful  to  its 
development  and  growth.  She  should  adapt  the  large 
images  of  nature  and  the  outer  world  to  a smaller 
compass;  she  should  disintegrate  single  objects,  select 
them,  clothe  them  with  fancy  and  imagination,  ani- 
mate them,  and  make  them  symbols  of  beauty,  truth 
and  goodness,  so  that  they  may  be  apprehended  by 
the  simple  capacities  of  the  child. 

It  is  not  easy  to  find  the  symbols  for  the  earliest 
development;  it  is  an  art  which  requires  deep  knowl- 
edge, knowledge  of  physiology  and  psychology; — how 
are  mothers,  all  mothers  to  gain  it?  The  motherly 
instinct,  the  motherly  love,  are  certainly  magicians, 
sometimes  making  even  the  simplest  perform  wonders, 
and,  without  the  wonders  that  love  has  performed,  hu- 
manity in  childhood  would  have  had  a still  harder 
struggle  b develop  itself  than  has  been  the  case.  How 
marked  W ^he  difference  between  two  children  of  the 


81 


same  age,  the  one  cared  for  and  caressed  by  a loving 
mother,  the  other  brought  up  amid  indifference  and 
dull  surroundings  ! How  many  children,  in  foundling 
hospitals,  die  more  for  want  of  soul  food  than  physical 
care ! Still  not  every  mother  is  able  to  find  all  the 
child’s  soul  needs,  if  none  of  its  faculties  are  to  remain 
dormant,  if  every  one  of  them  is  to  be  developed  as 
much  as  possible. 

It  is  the  single  individual  who  finds  what  all  need. 
For  all  its  needs,  humanity  has  had  discoverers,  in- 
ventors, geniuses,  who  have  beautified  or  remodelled 
human  existence,  and  supplied  the  demand  for  knowl- 
edge in  various  directions.  It  was  Frcebel’s  mission 
to  make  the  needs  of  childhood  understood,  to  fit  hu- 
manity for  a higher  step  in  its  development,  and  to 
furnish  mothers  with  the  symbols  by  which  they  can 
lead  the  young  soul  through  the  labyrinths  of  its 
primary  stage  of  existence.  His  mind  selected  and  ar- 
ranged the  materials,  the  forms,  colors  and  sounds  in 
elementary  simplicity,  as  they  are  fitted  to  enter  into 
the  soul  life  of  the  child,  without  disturbing  its  quiet 
development  as  a bud,  without  awakening  the  soul 
rudely  or  precociously  from  its  slumber,  and  yet 
not  allowing  the  glowing  spark  to  be  extinguished 
in  the  ashes  of  the  materialistic  world.  He  found 
the  true  law,  by  the  aid  of  which  the  mother’s  in- 
stinct may  safely  and  firmly  proceed  to  find  what  is 
needed  for  the  soul  nourishment  of  the  young  humap 
plant. 

What  then  is  needed?  Shall  we  give  the  young 


82 


soul  everything  ready  made,  prepared  and  graded, 
that  it  may  be  saved  all  exertion,  and  take  it  in  as  it 
does  its  mother’s  milk?  Certainly,  in  the  beginning, 
the  child’s  surroundings  should  be  fitted,  ordered  and 
modelled  according  to  its  need,  even  as  the  cradle  and 
garments  are  prepared  for  the  babe.  The  infant  has 
to  take  everything  before  it  can  give;  in  a few  months 
it  reaches  out  its  tiny  hands  as  if  to  grasp  and  take 
its  share  of  the  world.  Frcebel  thinks  that  the  first 
grasping  of  the  child,  is  the  earliest  sign  of  awaken- 
ing intelligence.  It  desires  to  take  hold  of  material 
objects  with  its  hands,  till  the  mind  takes  hold  too, 
and  grasps  in  its  own  peculiar  way.  Only  by  appro- 
priation can  man  come  into  relation  with  his  world, 
but  appropriation  must  be  accompanied  by  exertion, 
since  rights  entail  duties.  In  the  first  months  of  a 
child’s  life,  self-activity  begins,  itself  a beginning  for 
further  exertions;  buf  instead  of  aiding  the  child  and 
furthering  its  eflbrts,  the  exercise  which  conveys  an 
impression  of  space  and  distance,  is  denied  it  in  tak- 
ing away  the  object  which  the  little  hands  reach  after 
and  crave  to  experiment  with. 

Self  - activity  is  the  first  principle  of  Frgebel’s 
method.  The  child,  he  says,  begins  its  activity  by 
making  what  is  outward  interior,  that  is,  it  takes 
from  outward  things  impressions  into  its  soul,  in  order 
to  manifest,  at  a later  period,  the  interior  as  exterior; 
or,  in  other  words,  having  converted  the  impressions 
received  into  perceptions  and  thoughts,  it  will  mani- 
fest them  outwardly  again  in  its  works  and  actions, 


83 


To  take  in  and  live  out,  are  as  essential  to  the  child’s 
being  as  to  all  mankind. 

Supposing  the  child  to  have  been  provided  with  the 
right  surroundings,  from  which  it  has  taken  impres- 
sions of  the  beautiful,  the  true  and  the  good,  how  is  it 
to  live  them  out  or  to  show  them  in  its  life?  How 
shall  self-activity  manifest  itself?  In  what  form  or 
way  shall  peculiar  individuality  be  expressed?  The 
child  must  manifest  its  inner  being  according  to  na- 
ture, in  the  form  to  which  childish  instinct  leads:  in 
'play. 

Play  is  free  activity,  the  result  of  well-being  and 
joy.  It  is  joy  and  happiness  to  the  child  to  develop 
itself  in  a natural  way,  though  in  unconsciousness  of 
the  purpose,  the  aim  of  its  activity.  Jean  Paul  says. 

Play  is  the  first  poetry  of  the  child”,  but  it  embodies 
also  its  first  deeds.  After  the  first  months  of  passive 
taking  in,  the  child  begins  the  life  of  acting,  producing 
— sound  for  example — and  later  of  remodelling;  for  to 
remodel  the  world,  is  the  task  of  humanity. 

The  child,  one  year  old,  that  exerts  all  its  strength 
to  pound  an  object  on  the  table,  to  throw  it  on  the 
floor  again  and  again;  that  tries  to  open  a door  while 
on  its  mother’s  arm,  or  to  pull  open  a drawer,  uses 
its  powers  and  feels  pleasure  in  the  exercise;  it  plays, 
but  without  aim  or  end  in  view,  and  without  showing 
its  peculiar  characteristics.  Grown  older,  the  child 
imitates  in  its  play.  The  little  girl,  for  instance,  with 
her  doll  repeats  what  is  done  with  herself, — washes, 
dresses,  undresses  and  puts  it  to  bed.  Or  children 


84 


imitate  what  they  see  in  the  kitchen,  the  workshop, 
the  garden  or  the  street.  This  faculty  of  imitation 
awakens  perception  in  the  soul,  and  leads  on  to  dra- 
matic personification,  thus  constantly  exercising  the 
thinking  faculties.  At  an  early  age,  imitation  is  most- 
ly of  a general  character,  though  dilferences  of  sex 
soon  manifest  themselves,  girls  liking  difierent  plays 
from  boys;  even  temperament  shows  itself  early,  at 
least  the  phlegmatic  and  sanguine  are  easily  distin- 
guished, and  many  individual  traits  mark  peculiarity 
of  character.  But  it  is  only  in  rare  cases  that  especial- 
ly favored,  highly  gifted  geniuses  in  science  and  art, 
manifest  their  peculiar  gifts  so  early  in  life.  All  great 
musicians  have  not  composed  sonatas  at  six  years  of 
age,  as  Mozart  did.  Love  of  nature  may  indicate  the 
future  naturalist,  or  love  of  numbers  the  mathemati- 
cian. But  not  in  doing  and  acting  alone,  will  a child 
manifest  its  peculiar  personality;  real  productivity  or 
creative  activity  is  necessary  to  bring  out  individual 
talents.  In  the  works  of  its  hands  we  shall  find  indi- 
cations of  its  peculiar  vocation.  How  skilful  the  little 
hands  of  children  can  be  made,  we  see  in  the  sad  spec- 
tacle of  thousands  of  young  beings,  in  the  manifold 
branches  of  industry,  used  like  machines,  always  in 
one  direction.  What  a burning  shame  to  our  social 
system,  what  a blight  on  humanity,  is  such  a desecra- 
tion of  innocent  children ! 

The  mind  of  a child  can  only  produce  inventively, 
in  the  joyousness  of  play  filled  with  the  desire  to  attain 
a certain  result:  the  wish  to  gratify  its  own  love  for 


85 


the  beautiful,  or,  from  the  work  of  its  hands,  to  make 
a present  to  a dear  friend,  may  incite  its  imagination. 
For  the  attainment  of  such  ends,  the  healthy  child 
shuns  no  labor,  no  exertions.  Even  without  a certain 
end  in  view,  children  like  to  work,  to  work  hard,  if  it 
is  done  like  play;  it  is  in  their  nature,  for  man  was 
created  to  work,  to  be  useful.  Who  has  not  observed 
the  zest  with  which  children  sweep  or  shovel  snow, 
or  do  any  voluntary  work  ? 

But  the  child  must  become  an  artist,  within  the 
limits  of  its  powers,  if  the  blossom  of  its  peculiar  indr 
viduality  is  to  develop.  For  this,  common,  imitative, 
aimless  playing  does  not  suffice;  for  this,  it  needs 
guidance,  instruction  and  proper  material.  How  often 
do  the  little  ones  long  for,  and  beg  the  assistance  of 
grown  people  in  their  plays ! They  feel  that  they  need 
guidance  and  counsel.  How  eagerly  do  they  look 
round  for  proper  material,  by  the  aid  of  which  they 
may  carry  out  their  ideas ! But  grown  people  seldom 
know  how  to  be  true  guides;  they  are  either  over- 
bearing and  arbitrary,  desiring  children  to  act  accord- 
ing to  their  ideas,  or  they  are  without  interest  and 
sympathy.  They  fail  to  enter  into  the  spirit  of  the 
plays,  nor  do  they  understand  childhood;  though  every 
one  of  them  was  once  a child,  it  would  seem  nothing 
is  more  easily  forgotten  ! The  material  which  children 
generally  find  in  their  surroundings,  is  too  crude  and 
clumsy  for  shaping  and  moulding.  For  instance,  con- 
siderable strength  and  skill  are  required  to  whittle 
wood,  and  little  children  can  not  do  it.  Ready  made 


86 


playthings  leave  no  room  for  work,  and  cease  to 
interest,  when  their  novelty  is  gone.  It  has  often  been 
remarked,  that  the  childish  imagination  delights  in 
unshapen  things  more  than  in  those  which  are  proper- 
ly finished,  to  which  nothing  can  be  added.  Often  the 
child  of  simple  taste,  unspoiled  by  luxury",  prefers  a 
bit  of  wood,  or  rag,  that  to  its  imagination  represents 
a doll,  to  a real  and  beautiful  one  from  a shop.  In- 
creasing luxury,  and  the  present  perfection  of  toys, 
serve  to  make  children  merely  idle  observers  and 
critics  of  their  playthings;  they  soon  tire  of  them,  and 
ennui  leads  them  to  the  only  activity  left  in  regard  to 
them — their  destruction.  Children  become  surfeited, 
want  continual  change  and  something  new;  they  are 
dissatisfied  with  everything,  because  in  all  this  abun- 
dance there  is  nothing  to  give  activity  to  their  powers. 
The  building-blocks  and  tool-boxes  now  given  to  boys, 
are  very  well,  but  instruction  in  the  use  of  them  should 
also  be  given. 

Fkcebel  relates,  that  when  he  was  a little  boy,  he 
became  interested  in  watching  the  workmen  who  were 
repairing  the  gothic  church  of  the  village.  After 
closely  observing  what  they  did,  he  collected  stones, 
pieces  of  timber  and  boards,  and  began  also  to  build  a 
church;  but  after  trying  a great  while  in  vain  to  pro- 
duce something  satisfactory,  he  gave  up  in  despair. 
This  fruitless  attempt,  he  thought,  gave  him  his  first 
impression  that  children  ought  to  have  better  prepar- 
ed materials  to  work  with,  and  some  one  to  tell  them 
how  to  work,  and  that  then  they  would  certainly  do 


— SI  — 

better.  So  his  own  childish  attempts  at  play,  in  his 
father's  garden,  became  the  starting  point  from  which 
he  proceeded  to  find  suitable  materials  and  a method 
of  using  them, — the  occupations  and  system  of  the 
Kindergarten. 

These  means  of  occupation  serve,  even  from  the  first 
months,  to  make  the  perception  of  things  easier.  The 
simplicity,  order  and  adaptation  of  the  objects  present- 
ed to  the  child,  facilitate  its  reception  of  impressions  of 
shape,  size,  number,  color,  sound;  and  by  definiteness, 
succession  and  connection,  distinct  images  and  im- 
pressions are  given,  adapted  to  the  awakening  com- 
prehension. They  servo  to  develop  the  limbs,  the 
senses  and  all  organs,  in  the  pleasantest  manner,  by 
self -exert ion,  so  that  the  child  is  enabled  to  express 
Avhat  is  Avithin,  to  recognize  itself  in  its  own  works, 
even  as  the  Avork  of  the  artist  shows  forth  his  mind. 
The  childish  instinct  of  plaij  came  to  consciousness  in 
Frcebel;  he  saw  (if  we  may  attribute  a sort  of  con- 
sciousness to  nature)  the  end  that  nature  had  in  view, 
he  saAV  the  analogy  between  these  primitive  manifesta- 
tions in  the  development  of  childhood  and  the  devel- 
opment of  the  human  race,  or  humanity;  and  thus  ho 
was  able  to  find  adequate  means  to  gratify  the  impulse 
for  culture,  Avhich  is  inborn,  and  by  which  man  devel- 
ops himself  and  his  world. 

It  is  commonly  said  that  genius  always  makes  its 
way,  that  genius  will  finally  triumph.  Certainly,  Di- 
vine Providence  finds  the  means  by  Avhich  those  chosen 
to  fulfil  a great  mission,  Avill  attain  the  end;  but  Avho 


can  tell  how  much  sorrow  and  fruitless  struggle,  how 
many  tears  might  have  been  spared  them ! or  how 
much  greater  their  accomplishments  might  have  been, 
how  much  more  genial  their  hearts,  if  the  struggle  had 
not  been  so  hard ! How  many  of  those  who  finally  at- 
tain the  palm,  are  soured  and  embittered  in  spirit,  or 
broken  in  health  by  early  privations?  Many  think 
that  the  development  of  such  genius  or  character  is 
due  to  these  tears,  struggles,  and  despair.  It  is  true 
that  man  owes  his  greatness  always  to  his  own  exer- 
tions, by  which  he  develops  natural  endowments;  but 
it  is  of  great  importance  to  recognize  such  endowments 
in  early  life,  and  to  take  right  steps  at  the  outset  to 
attain  the  ends  aimed  at.  Yfe  often  see  genius  break 
through  all  obstacles,  but  we  doubt  whether  such  ob- 
stacles are  needful.  If  a person  who  has  a beautiful 
voice  never  sings,  or  is  never  trained  in  music,  how 
can  he  become  a great  singer?  If  Humboldt  and 
Thorwaldsen  had  been  imprisoned  in  a dark  cellar, 
where  neither  sight  nor  sound  could  have  reached 
them,  where  their  faculties  could  not  have  developed, 
or  even  if  they  had  been  children  of  very  poor  parents, 
their  wonderful  genius  might  never  have  unfolded. 
Who  may  count  the  fettered  powers  and  gifts  that 
drop  from  the  tree  of  humanity  like  unripe  fruit,  be- 
cause they  had  no  scope  for  exercise,  because  the  soul 
was  never  brought  out  from  its  darkness ! It  is  not 
probable  that  the  number  of  geniuses  will  diminish,  if 
their  crown  of  thorns  is  changed  to  a crown  of  roses, 
when  all  their  powers  find  scope  for  joyous  working 


89 


and  striving,  and  wise  guidance  makes  clearer  to  the 
child  even  its  true  calling,  and  shows  it  the  shortest 
way  to  attain  it.  All  the  overexertions  of  humanity 
should  be  done  away  with,  especially  in  childhood,  for 
children  ought  above  all  things  to  be  happy.  They 
become  happy  by  activity,  by  developing  their  dormant 
powers.  Their  real  wants  should  be  gratified;  they 
should  have  exercise,  and  by  it  instruct  themselves, 
without  the  deadening  constraint  of  the  school. 

The  awakening  of  the  creative  spirit  in  children, 
will  free  the  coming  generation  from  its  greediness  for 
pleasure  and  excitement,  which  unsettles  the  morals 
of  our  own  generation.  Activity  as  play  furnishes  the 
elements  of  all  knowledge,  and  the  capacity /or  doings 
so  that  a connection  and  unity  in  culture  are  brought 
about.  Knowing  and  doing  are  separated  in  our  day, 
theory  is  apart  from  practice,  which  is  an  evil  in  mor- 
als as  well  as  in  science.  The  school  ought  to  receive 
the  child  already  prepared  with  the  fundamental  con- 
ditions for  the  acquisition  of  knowledge:  the  child 
should  be  able  to  see  with  its  eyes,  to  hear  with  its 
ears,  to  observe;  it  should  be  in  a receptive  state, 
having  a desire  for  knowledge,  able  to  distinguish 
the  objects  in  its  surroundings,  and  able  to  give 
expression  to  its  inner  world,  in  forms  that  are  in 
accordance  with  its  childish  ways.  The  clay  model- 
ling in  the  Kindergarten  is,  of  course,  very  imper- 
fect, compared  with  the  modelling  of  the  sculptor, 
but  it  is  the  child’s  mode  of  expressing  its  simple  ideas 
and  conceptions. 


90 


Virtue  and  morality  must  be  taught  by  practice, 
words  and  precepts  are  not  sufficient;  by  exercise  only 
the  will  gains  strength  for  good  and  noble  actions. 
There  is  no  better  field  for  children  to  learn  to  prac- 
tise virtue  in  than  is  given  in  the  Kindergarten.  The 
restraint  is  not  too  great,  and  the  children  are  among 
their  equals  in  age,  toward  whom  they  will  freely  act 
out  themselves,  as  they  would  not  do  toward  older 
people. 

No  epoch  requires  doing^  so  much  as  the  present. 
The  achievements  of  industry  in  our  day,  are  as 
colossal  as  the  pyramids  of  Egypt;  but  instead  of 
requiring  centuries  for  their  accomplishment  they  re- 
quire only  days,  and  the  external  world  is  remodelled 
with  great  rapidity.  But  how  slow  is  the  progress  of 
moral  reform  compared  with  this!  What  power  can 
we  employ  to  rival  in  its  effects  the  wonders  accom- 
plished ? Is  there  a higher  power  than  love  ? God’s  love 
created  the  world;  and  what  earthly  love  is  mightier 
than  that  of  the  mother?  The  divine  spark  of  love 
is  purest  and  strongest,  I might  even  say  holiest,  in 
the  mother’s  heart.  Ought  it  not  then  to  be  powerful 
in  purifying  and  elevating  human  society,  in  helping 
it  to  rise  out  of  the  ashes  of  bygone  centuries  to  a new 
life? 

It  is  not  sufficient  that  saving  ideas  are  announced 
to  the  world;  devotion,  patience  and  sacrifice  are  re- 
quired to  carry  them  out  practically.  Humanity  has, 
as  it  were,  two  elements,  the  masculine  and  the  fem- 
inine; hitherto  the  masculine  has  predominated,  and 


91 


given  its  stamp  and  impress  to  the  world.  Dry  intel- 
lectual culture,  and  matters  of  fact,  have  desolated 
the  world  and  made  it  barren,  only  the  dew  drops  of 
affection  can  fructify  it  again.  The  appeal  that  sum- 
mons women  to  the  rescue,  that  calls  out  their  activity, 
is  heard  everywhere.  A cry  of  distress  comes  from 
helpless  innocent  childhood;  it  appeals  to  the  heart  of 
the  mother  to  help  to  form  a new  and  better  genera- 
tion fit  to  inhabit  and  give  moral  strength  to  the  out- 
wardly beautified  world.  A key  has  been  found  to 
decipher  and  develop  the  child’s  whole  being,  the  al- 
phabet of  which  is  the  book  for  mothers.  Will  they 
avail  themselves  of  it,  and  will  young  girls  gladly  con- 
secrate themselves  to  the  guidance  of  childhood,  the 
sacred  office  to  which  Frcebel  calls  them  ? 


92 


Chapter  YT. 

Froebel’s  Mother  Cosseting-  Songs. 


This  Family  Book”,  as  he  calls  it,  Frcebel  offers 
to  mothers  as  a guide  for  the  first  infantile  develop- 
ment, by  means  of  physical  play  exercises.  The 
examples  given  are  intended  to  make  clear  to  the 
mother’s  consciousness  the  aim  of  all  her  play  with 
her  child.  No  dry,  pedantic  imitation  is  desired,  but 
it  is  hoped  that  mothers  will  imbibe  the  spirit  of  the 
book,  and  carry  out,  with  such  modification  as  may 
be  necessary,  its  pervading  idea. 

For  centuries,  the  mother’s  instinct,  impelled  by  the 
desire  to  amuse  her  child,  has  been  inventing  little 
plays  for  the  exercise  of  its  limbs,  which  have,  of 
course,  contributed  somewhat  to  their  development, 
but  only  in  an  imperfect  way,  as  everything  must  be 
that  is  left  to  instinct  alone.  This  playing  is  often 
nothing  but  foolish  dandling,  because  mothers  or 
nurses  have  not  the  proper  end  in  view, — the  develop- 
ment of  the  limbs,  and  the  wakening  of  all  the  dor- 
mant faculties  of  the  soul. 

A great  man  has  said:  ^^Let  me  make  the  songs  of 


93 


a nation,  and  I care  not  who  shall  make  the  laws.’^ 
Perhaps  he  did  not  overestimate  the  influence  of  song 
on  the  hearts  of  men.  How  we  love  our  national 
songs ! In  proportion  as  they  are  the  embodiment  of 
justice,  truth  and  purity,  in  that  degree  will  they  be 
powerful  in  awakening  like  sentiments  in  the  hearts  of 
the  people.  What  then  should  be  the  character  of  the 
songs  given  to  the  little  child,  as  the  first  means  of 
bringing  it  into  conscious  relationship  with  the  world 
around  it  ? Should  they  not  be  of  the  best,  the  purest 
type,  and  at  the  same  time  of  greatest  simplicity? 
Should  not  everything  that  would  give  the  child  bad 
impressions  be  excluded  ? 

The  cradle-songs  which  have  been  handed  down  from 
one  generation  to  another,  through  nurses  and  mothers, 
are  nearly  alike  in  all  civilized  countries,  because  they 
have  originated  in  a maternal  instinct  which  is  every- 
where pretty  much  the  same.  Of  such  traditional  lore 
Frgebel  collected  what  would  serve  his  purpose,  while, 
for  the  greater  part  of  his  life,  he  carefully  observed 
the  simple  habits  of  mothers  among  the  people,  enter- 
ing peasants’  huts,  and  staying  for  hours  with  mothers 
and  their  babies.  He  also  collected  the  quaint  old 
sing-songs  and  lullabies,  but  freed  them  from  rude, 
coarse  expressions,  and  from  images  ill  adapted  to 
childish  conception,  which  made  those  old  melodies 
extremely  nonsensical  and  often  hurtful. 

Ho  mother  plays  with  her  child  silently;  every  one 
speaks  or  sings  while  she  plays,  because  human  beings 
need  language  from  the  very  beginning  of  their  exist- 


94 


ence,  as  a distinctive  characteristic  of  their  spiritual 
nature.  Those  who  yet  recollect,  with  tender  emo- 
tion, the  lullabies  with  which  a mother’s  voice  hushed 
them  to  sleep,  will  understand  Frcebel  who  sees  iu 
the  songs,  which  accompany  the  first  infantile  plays, 
the  means  of  developing  the  child’s  emotional  nature. 
Through  musical  sounds  the  heart  speaks,  and  harmo- 
nies awaken  emotions.  But  the  mother  is  too  often 
ignorant  of  the  great  power  that  she  may  wield  in  this 
simple  element  of  song;  she  sings  because  her  heart 
prompts  her  to  sing;  but  Frcebel  sees  in  her  simple 
song  the  greatest  educator  of  the  infant’s  soul.  He 
has  given  to  the  mother  a volume  which  cannot  be 
too  highly  valued,  the  aim  of  which  is  nothing  less 
than  the  development  of  the  child’s  threefold  nature. 
By  the  exercises  which  accompany  the  songs,  physical 
development  is  assisted;  by  the  words  which  always 
have  reference  to  something  nearly  related  to  the 
child,  he  is  brought  into  loving  sympathy  and  close 
relationship  with  nature  and  surrounding  life,  thus 
developing  mind  and  heart.  The  mother  should  always 
feel  that  it  is  her  privilege  and  duty  to  help  the  little 
one  to  get  possession  of  its  powers  of  body  and  soul. 
Soon  it  must  live,  think,  and  feel  for  itself.  The  great 
question  for  the  mother  should  be:  How  can  I best 
prepare  my  child  for  this  independent  life  of  thought 
and  action,  how  lead  it  into  the  right  channels  ? The 
mother  is  to  the  child  the  world’s  interpreter.  All  to 
the  young  being  is  new,  strange  and  wonderful;  and 
is  it  not  well  that  it  does  not  at  once  particularize  ? 


95 


Otherwise  it  would  be  bewildered  by  the  infinite  varie- 
ty presented  to  it.  It  is  the  mother’s  mission  to  enter 
into  the  child’s  nature,  to  live  its  life,  to  understand 
its  impulses,  to  feel  its  needs;  to  bring  her  love,  her 
sympathy,  her  wisdom,  to  this  wwk  of  leading  the 
child  along  the  dark  path  of  early  life,  and  to  make  it 
acquainted  with  its  relations  to  nature,  to  its  fellows, 
and,  through  these  to  bring  it  into  a conscious  rela- 
tionship to  its  Heavenly  Father. 

In  the  first  years  of  life,  physical  development  is  fore- 
most, though  the  development  of  the  soul  proceeds  at 
the  same  time,  for  soul  and  body  are  so  united  that  the 
one  can  only  be  developed  by  means  of  the  other.  So, 
according  to  Frcebel’s  idea,  the  mind  receives  the 
necessary  aid  to  its  awakening,  through  the  develop- 
ment of  the  senses  and  limbs. 

Gymnastic  exercises  for  larger  children  and  for 
youth,  arc  now  almost  universally  regarded  as  neces- 
sary, as  conducive  to  physical  health.  But  the  moral 
power  of  man  also  needs  discipline;  with  the  strength- 
ening of  the  muscles  the  will-power  also  strengthens, 
and  with  grace  of  body  refinement  of  soul  should  like- 
wise be  gained.  If  the  young  limbs  need  this  varied 
and  systematic  exercise  for  the  muscles,  after  the  child 
can  walk,  run  and  jump,  how  much  more  do  they  need  it 
before  self-activity  begins  ? Acrobats  and  circus-riders 
take  only  quite  young  children  to  train  for  their  cal- 
lings. The  practice  of  tying  up  babies  in  swaddling- 
clothes  has  long  been  abandoned;  but  when  the  babe 
lies  with  unfettered  limbs  on  its  mattress,  when  it  moves 


96 


hands  and  feet  and  plays  with  them,  it  needs  more  aid 
than  an  older  child,  in  order  to  attain  the  development 
which  these  instinctive  motions  indicate  and  aim  at. 

Common  gymnastics  are  designed  to  exercise  and 
develop  every  muscle.  But  such  exertion  alone  would 
tire  the  young  child  too  much.  Its  interest  must  be 
awakened  in  various  directions,  that  it  may  be  happy 
and  joyous.  A child  will  not  grow  weary  of  showing 
its  height,  while  it  would  be  unwilling  to  stand  erect 
or  to  stretch  out  its  arms  to  no  purpose.  There  must 
be  a meaning  in  all  that  is  done  with  a child,  suited 
to  its  comprehension,  such  as  is  furnished  in  Frcebel’s 
play  gymnastics.  The  exercise  of  the  body  is  in  them 
made  also  an  exercise  of  all  the  soul  organs,  as  it 
were,  and  the  first  playful  activity  of  the  child  becomes 
the  germinal  point  and  the  preparation  for  future  de- 
velopment in  the  kindergarten  and  school,  establishing 
system  and  connection  throughout  the  whole  process 
of  development. 

Frcebel  himself  says  of  his  book:  ‘‘I  have  embodied 
in  it  the  most  important  ideas  of  my  educational  sys- 
tem. It  is  the  starting  point  for  an  education  accord- 
ing to  nature’s  laws;  it  shows  how  all  the  germs  of 
human  endowment  have  to  be  nurtured  and  assisted 
to  produce  a full  and  healthy  development.”  Our  poet 
Schiller  had  a glimpse  of  this  when  he  said  in  Wab 
lenstein”:  ^^Deep  meaning  often  lies  in  childish  play.” 

The  inodes  of  expression  in  The  Mother  Cosseting 
Songs''^  have  been  criticized  as  uncouth  and  often  un- 
intelligible, but  the  critics  have  not  penetrated  deeply 


— 91  — 

into  the  contents  or  the  spirit  of  the  book.  They  may 
perhaps  improve  the  form,  but  let  them  beware  of 
altering  the  character  of  childlike  naivete  and  orig- 
inality, in  which  the  charm  of  the  book  consists,  and 
which  gives  it  its  value.  We  must  not  forget,  in  judg- 
ing it,  that  the  mottoes  are  meant  for  grown  people, 
and  the  songs  for  children. 

Life  is  exertion  of  power,  and  all  adequate  exertion 
is  joy  in  existence.  The  young  animal  in  its  playful 
capers  shows  this,  as  well  as  the  child  in  its  expres- 
sions of  gladness  when  it  presses  its  little  feet  against 
an  object  which  resists  the  pressure,  or  against  the 
hands  of  the  mother,  who  should  repeat  this  exercise 
and  several  of  a similar  kind,  in  order  to  strengthen 
the  muscles  of  the  back  and  legs.  The  most  important 
exercises  in  Frcebel’s  book  are  for  the  hand,  as  the 
most  important  tool  of  man.  The  more  man  is  relieved 
from  hand  drudgery  in  work,  by  the  use  of  machinery, 
the  more  the  skill  of  the  hand  must  .be  developed,  that 
it  may  be  employed  in  the  constantly  advancing  works 
of  industry  and  art.  The  hands  of  little  children  among 
the  poorer  classes  are  mostly  stiff  and  clumsy,  still 
they  must  serve  to  gain  daily  bread . Without  early 
exercise,  the  elasticity  of  the  hand  is  lost  to  a great 
degree,  the  muscles  do  not  gain  sufficient  strength  to 
meet  the  demands  in  the  higher  technics  of  our  day. 
Complaint  of  the  want  of  skilled  labor  is  universal. 
Sculptors  and  great  players  on  the  piano  or  violin 
know  that,  only  by  constant  practice  in  early  child- 
hood, could  they  have  overcome  the  technical  difficul- 


— 98  — 

ties  of  their  arts.  The  necessity  for  making  use  of 
early  childhood,  in  order  to  be  prepared  to  meet  the 
demand  for  men  who  know  and  can  cZo,  is,  on  the 
whole,  more  and  more  felt.  Education  therefore 
must  begin  with  overcoming  matter,  in  order  to  pro- 
duce change  in  matter, — in  industry  and  art;  and 
further  still  to  spiritualize  matter,  so  that  it  may  be- 
come embodied  thought,  as  in  a creation  of  art.  It 
not  only  saves  time,  but  a large  amount  of  tedious 
drill  at  a later  period,  if  a certain  degree  of  mechani- 
cal skill  is  acquired  by  means  of  play  in  childhood.  It 
is  gained  almost  unconsciously  then,  and  Frgebel’s 
systematic  plays  not  only  aim  at  this  physical  training, 
but  at  the  development  of  mind  and  soul,  thus  pre- 
venting idleness,  the  worst  enemy  to  morality  and 
childish  innocence.  If  the  mind  and  the  hand  work 
together  from  the  outset,  there  is  little  chance  of  the 
human  being  becoming  a mere  mechanical  drudge. 

In  his  book,  ^^The  Mother  Cosseting  Songs'‘\  Frcebel 
takes  into  account,  as  he  does  in  all  his  other  devices 
for  the  education  and  development  of  children,  the 
threefold  relation  into  which  every  human  being  enters 
at  birth,  namely  the  relation  to  nature,  to  man  and  to 
God.  The  surroundings  of  the  child  are  either  prod- 
ucts of  nature  or  of  human  culture,  and  have  their 
final  cause  in  God.  The  child’s  relation  to  these  ob- 
jects should  be  taught  in  a manner  clear  and  definite, 
though  connected. 

When  the  little  one  is  taken  out  into  the  open  air, 
it  will  first  notice  objects  in  motion,  a flag  flapping. 


— 99 


or  a weathercock  turning  it  may  be,  and  when  the 
child  is  old  enough  to  understand  the  words  used,  such 
a hand  gymnastic  as  Frogbel  gives,  may  be  employed 
to  illustrate  the  effect  of  the  wind  which,  we  say,  also 
moves  the  trees,  the  mill,  the  kite.  Let  the  child,  too, 
seek  the  wind:  it  cannot  be  found,  and  thus  the  im- 
pression of  something  that  acts  while  hidden — of  an 
unseen  force — will  be  made  on  the  tender  mind. 


The  Weathercock. 

Exercise  for  hringing  the  Muscles  of  the  Hand  and 
Arm  into  Action,  ^ 


* It  may  be  thought  strange  that  instead  of  a woman’s  delicate 
hand  a masculine  hand  is  represented  in  the  woodcuts,  but  they 
are  taken  from  the  original,  the  model  for  which  was  Frcebel’s 
hand.  Although  Frcebel  had  no  children  of  his  own,  his  pecu- 
liar faculty  of  playing  with  babies  was  remarkable,  and  in  his  lec- 
tures to  mothers  and  nurses  he  always  illustrated  the  play  gym- 
nastics of  his  Mother  Cosseting  Songs  himself. 


— io()  — 

Motto  for  the  Mother. 

If  you  wish  your  child  to  find 
A lesson  suited  to  its  mind, 

In  all  its  eyes  can  see; 

When  the  things  you  show  and  name, 

Teach  it  to  imitate  the  same: 

The  child  will  learn  with  glee. 

Song  for  the  Child. 

Like  the  cock  upon  the  tower, 

Turning  round  in  wind  and  shower. 

Little  children’s  hands  must  learn, 

All  in  play,  to  twist  and  turn. 

Sympathy  with  all  created  things  should  be  early 
awakened.  The  child  should  live  much  in  the  open 
air,  in  the  country  if  possible.  It  realizes  no  distance, 
and  the  little  song  about  the  moon  shows  how  Frcebel 
would  bring  the  young  soul  into  loving  relations  with 
all  that  exists  in  nature. 


Th()  Child  and  the  Moon. 

Motto  for  the  Mother. 
Why  do  the  objects  far  away. 

To  the  child’s  eye,  so  close  appear  ? 
Why  does  it  ever  wish  and  strive 
To  bring  the  things  of  distance  near  ? 

Mother ! canst  thou  not  see  in  this 
A meaning  deep,  a mystic  sign, 


101 


stamped  on  the  babe’s  unsulliea  buul, 

In  wisdom,  by  a hand  divine? 

It  tells  thee  not  to  break  the  dream 
The  blessed  dream  of  infancy, — 

In  which  the  soul  unites  with  all 
In  earth  or  heaven,  in  sea  or  sky. 

It  tells  thee  that  the  bounds  of  space 
Exist  not  for  the  infant’s  soul. 

All  that  the  senses  can  perceive. 

Seems  one  great  and  continuous  whole. 

And  lies  there  not  a truth  sublime 
In  these  perceptions  of  the  babe; 

A symbol  of  the  highest  law. 

That  the  Most  High  to  creatures  gave  ? 

A symbol  of  the  law  of  love ! 

Oh,  mother!  let  that  plead  to  thee 
To  teach  thy  child  in  God  to  find 
The  source  of  love  and  unity. 

Then  break  not  suddenly  the  dream. 
The  blessed  dream  of  infancy; 

But  teach  the  opening  soul  in  all 
An  everlasting  love  to  see. 


Come  child,  come,  let  us  look  up  at  the  moon 
'Now  shining  so  brightly  on  high; 

And  will  you  not  come  down  to  us,  bright  moon. 
From  your  beautiful  home  in  the  sky?” 


102 


yes,”  says  the  moon,  should  like  to  come, 
And  visit  a good  little  child; 

But  I cannot  get  out  of  my  dark  blue  home. 

So  I send  down  my  beams  so  mild. 

^^’Tis  a very  long  way  ’twixt  you  and  me, 

Though  so  near  I appear  to  your  sight; 

I am  much  farther  off  than  I seem  to  be, 

But  not  too  far  to  send  down  my  light. 

And  though  I can  never  come  down  to  play 
With  the  good  little  children  I love, 

I can  often  come  round,  at  the  close  of  day, 

To  shine  on  them  all  from  above. 

^^Then  very  good  friends  we  can  ever  remain, 

Though  we  live  so  far  off  from  each  other; 

Be  a very  good  child,  and  I’ll  soon  come  again 
To  shine  upon  you  and  your  mother.” 

Song  for  the  Child. 

^^Yes,  friends  we  must  always  be,  beautiftil  moon! 
And  whenever  you  shine  from  above, 

We  shall  greet  you  with  pleasure;  so  come  again  soon, 
And  with  love  I shall  pay  back  your  love.” 

The  cultivation  of  the  senses  is  very  important,  and 
a very  different  matter  from  the  gratification  of  the 
senses.  True,  high  and  noble  enjoyment  can  only  be 
had  through  their  discipline  and  culture,  the  sole 
means  of  averting  low,  coarse  sensuality  so  unworthy 


— 103  — 

of  man.  The  sense  of  taste  is  the  first  to  develop. 
The  child  should  not  be  allowed  to  devour  its  food 
greedily,  but  be  made  to  distinguish  diflTerent  kinds, 
as,  in  a higher  sense,  the  taste  is  afterwards  to 
be  developed  and  cultivated.  While  she  feeds  it,  the 
mother  should  sing  to  the  child  a song  indicating  the 
sources  of  some  articles  of  its  food,  or  allow  it  to  feed 
animals  while  it  eats,  giving  a share  to  the  cat,  the 
dog,  or  the  bird.  In  this  way  the  child’s  attention  is 
diverted,  and  directed  to  something  higher  than  mere 
self-gratification,  though  care  must  be  taken  that  the 
child,  easily  interested  in  other  things,  does  not  neg- 
lect its  own  food.  Frcebel  gives  the  Mowing  Song” 
for  use  in  the  early  training  of  the  sense  of  taste. 


Mowing. 

Exercise  for  the  Muscles  of  the  Arm  and  Shoulder, 


The  action  of  mowing  is  imitated  hy  the  mother 
talcing  the  child's  hands  in  hers^  and  swinging  them 
to  and  fro. 


104 


Motto  for  the  Mother. 

When  the  infant’s  laugh  so  clear 
Rings  upon  the  mother’s  ear, 

And  she  swings  its  arms  in  play, 

Let  her  swing  them  not  in  vain; 

But  let  the  merry  infant  gain, 

By  something  she  can  do  or  say. 

Song  for  the  Child. 

Peter!  quick!  go  out  and  mow. 

In  the  pretty  green  meadow; 

Then  give  the  grass,  so  fresh  and  sweet, 
To  the  gentle  cow  to  eat. 

Mary ! go  and  milk  the  cow. 

And  make  the  butter  for  me  now; 

Prom  the  milk  is  made  the  butter 
Which  I get  on  bread  for  supper. 

Happy  little  child  am  I; 

I must  never,  never  cry. 

Peter,  quick!  go  out  and  mow, 

In  the  pretty  green  meadow; 

And  when,  this  evening,  for  my  supper 
I sit  and  eat  my  bread  and  butter, 

I must  thank  you,  Peter,  for  the  grass. 
And  thank  the  cow,  and  thank  the  lass 
Who  milks  the  cow,  and  makes  the  butter. 
And  for  the  bread  must  thank  the  baker, 
And  thank  mamma  for  all,  nor  let 
My  heart  a single  thank  forget.” 


105 


The  play  of  Pat-a-cake’’  is  almost  everywhere 
played  with  little  children. 

The  sense  of  smell  should  also  be  cultivated,  by 
causing  the  child  to  smell  different  flowers.  A little 
song,  illustrative  of  this,  is  made  into  a play  in  the 
Kindergarten. 

Love  for  animals  should  be  early  cultivated.  Frge- 
BEL  would  have  a bird  in  a cage  hung  near  the  child 
to  awaken  its  interest.  Children  naturally  notice  and 
watch  animals.  The  song  of  the  Barnyard  Gate” 
in  Frcebel’s  book,  is  intended  to  make  the  child  ac- 
quainted with  the  various  domestic  animals,  to  teach 
it  their  names,  and  lead  it  to  imitate  their  voices. 


The  Bird’s  Nest. 


The  hands  form  the  nest^  the  thumbs  turned  inward 
represent  two  eggs.  At  the  words  ^^Soon  wee  birdies^^ 
ihe  thumbs  rise  and  flutter. 

In  the  hedge  a birdie  dear 
Builds  a nest  of  straw  and  hair. 

Lays  two  eggs  so  small  and  round. 

Soon  wee  birdies  there  are  found, 


106 


They  call  on  mother:  ^^hear,  hear,  hear, 
Mother  so  dear,  mother  so  dear. 

Oh  mother  dear,  hear,  hear,  hear!’^ 

^^The  Bird’s  Nest”  is  made  the  means  of  showing  the 
relations  to  father  and  mother,  and  it  may  also  be 
used  to  convey  to  the  child  first  ideas  of  the  protect- 
ing care  of  the  Heavenly  Father.  I have  based  my 
education  on  religion  and  it  must  lead  to  religion,” 
said  Frcebel.  As  we  make  the  young  child  under- 
stand that  young  birds  wait  patiently  in  the  nest  for 
the  return  of  the  mother  who  brings  them  their  food, 
we  teach  that  in  like  manner  it  must  learn  to  trust  in 
its  Heavenly  Father. 

‘The  Watering  Pot”,  another  play,  which  the  child 
has  as  a hand  gymnastic,  will  lead  it  afterward  to 
take  pleasure  in  tending  and  cultivating  its  little 
garden  patch  in  the  Kindergarten,  where  it  will  learn 
that  everything  requires  care  and  nursing;  that  love 
must  show  itself  in  action,  in  the  performance  of 
duties;  that  it  must  manifest  itself  in  overcoming 
laziness,  and  must  shun  no  trouble.  If  the  child  thus 
early  takes  loving  care  of  plants  and  animals,  it  will 
afterward  be  more  ready  to  sacrifice  ease  and  comfort 
for  the  sake  of  dear  friends;  and  so  the  tendency  to 
selfishness  will  be  early  counteracted. 

The  child’s  intimate  relation  to  its  mother  does  not 
cease  with  its  birth,  but  takes  a new  phase.  Without 
a mother’s  love,  without  a mother’s  care,  entrance 


107 


into  life  becomes  a sad  thing;  through  her  the  child 
is  introduced  into  this  world,  and  she  is  the  inter- 
preter of  the  world  and  of  humanity,  making  the 
young  being  acquainted  with  father,  brothers,  sisters, 
and  friends.  With  the  power  to  walk,  the  entire 
dependence  of  the  child  on  the  mother  gradually 
ceases — only  gradually ^ for  the  physical  oneness  lasts, 
as  it  were,  even  beyond  the  period  of  birth.  But,  in 
this  first  stage  of  life,  there  must  be  established  a 
soul-oneness,  if,  as  the  physical  union  and  dependence 
diminish,  the  spiritual  bond,  which  gives  to  the  mother 
the  greatest  educational  influence,  is  to  increase.  How 
touching  to  see  the  little  child,  in  its  first  attempts  to 
walk  alone,  rush  back  to  its  mother’s  arms,  as  if  in 
dread  of  separation ! If  the  hearts  of  the  mother  and 
child  are  united,  during  their  physical  oneness  and  the 
period  of  nursing,  then  the  child’s  physical  independ- 
ence brings  about  the  reverse  in  the  spiritual  relation. 
The  consciousness  of  its  mental  dependence  on  the 
mother  grows  in  the  child,  together  with  the  con- 
sciousness of  bodily  independence  and  the  growth  of 
its  personality. 

According  to  Frcbbel,  the  first  manifestation  of  the 
relations  of  love  which  bind  the  child  to  the  mother, 
is  its  smile.  Man  alone  can  smile,  and  the  babe  has 
only  this  language  for  the  expression  of  its  joy.  All 
relations  begin  at  one  point,  with  one  object,  and 
must  concentrate  there  before  they  can  expand.  So 
the  mother  must  become  the  child’s  centre  around 
which  it  moves,  till  others  can  approach  it;  therefore 


108 


no  other  person  should  be  so  much  occupied  with  tke 
infant,  in  order  that  it  may  thus  learn  to  concentrate 
itself.  The  children  of  the  wealthy,  who  go  from  arm 
to  arm,  and  often  see  little  of  the  mother,  are  apt  to 
become  fickle  and  less  afifectionate. 

Pestalozzi  in  his  book  for  Mothers,  as  well  as  Frce> 
BEL,  indicates  that  when  the  mother  first  begins  to 
occupy  herself  with  her  child,  she  should  play  with  its 
limbs,  and  this  she  does,  rightly  enough,  instinctively. 
By  touching  the  various  parts  of  its  body,  and  naming 
them  to  the  child,  it  first  becomes  acquainted  with  its 
own  form.  The  first  and  the  last  knowledge  that  man 
acquires,  is  of  himself. 

He  must  know  himself  bodily  before  he  can  know 
himself  mentally.  The  study  of  physiology  is  too  much 
neglected  in  schools.  It  is  a natural  instinct  that  leads 
children  to  try  to  learn  about  their  own  forms,  by 
playing  with  their  limbs,  and  the  mother’s  instinct  aids 
them ; but  it  makes  a great  difference  whether  she  does 
it  from  mere  instinct,  or  intelligently,  keeping  in  view, 
as  an  end,  physical  development. 

In  the  family,  the  mother  must  lead  the  child  to 
understand  its  relations  to  the  father,  the  relatives, 
and  the  inmates  of  the  house.  In  the  first  months  of 
its  life,  the  child  recognizes  no  one  but  its  mother.  It 
is  only  later,  and  when  it  has  become  acquainted  with 
the  members  of  its  family,  that  strangers  or  httle  com- 
panions should  approach  it.  We  often  see  babies  cry 
or  look  frightened  when  taken  among  strangers.  We 
say  they  are  shy,  and  certainly  anything  unknown. 


109 


strange,  without  connecting  link,  frightens  a child.  If 
we  wish  it  to  develop  harmoniously  and  lovingly,  the 
little  heart  must  not  be  crowded,  and  the  circle  of 
relations  must  not  be  extended  too  far  at  an  early 
period.  It  is  wrong  in  strangers  and  grown  persons 
to  kiss  and  caress  a young  child  against  its  will; 
violence  is  done  to  it,  and  its  life  element  is  taken 
away. 

For  all  these  reasons,  it  is  an  injury  to  the  child,  if 
instead  of  knowing  family  relations  it  is  immediately 
introduced  into  a large  community  where  no  tie  is  so 
closely  woven.  The  best  public  institutions.  Orphan 
Asylums,  and  the  like,  cannot  wholly  replace  the 
family,  the  atmosphere  of  life  in  which  God  has  placed 
the  human  plant ; but  in  the  nurseries  and  infant 
schools  established  according  to  Frcebel’s  principles, 
the  best  is  done  to  give  to  the  poor  motherless  children 
motherly  care  and  sympathy,  not  only  in  the  supply  of 
physical  needs,  but  in  satisfying  their  craving  for  love, 
and  gratifying  their  instinct  for  play. 

Father,  mother,  and  child  are  necessary,  says  Frce- 
BEL,  to  constitute  a ivliole  human  being.  The  family 
is  the  first  link  in  the  organism  of  mankind,  the  first 
community.  If  this  first  link  is  imperfectly  developed, 
how  can  the  succeeding  ones,  he  asks,  develop  per- 
fectly ? Still,  if  this  circle,  which  is  the  basis  of  moral- 
ity, did  not  enlarge,  these  exclusive  family  affections 
would  become  family  egotism,  of  Avhich  the  w'orld  is  full 
enough.  In  the  isolation  and  seclusion  of  the  middle 
ages,  this  family  egotism  was,  in  a measure,  a neces- 


no 


sity,  and  so  far  was  justifiable.  Might  prevailed  over 
right;  and  men  were  separated  by  family  feuds  and 
banded  together  in  clans.  In  the  present  century 
our  condition  and  necessities  are  different.  We  are 
equal  before  the  law,  and  family  egotism,  as  it  exists 
yet  in  aristocracy  of  birth  or  wealth,  in  the  spirit  of 
exclusiveness,  must  be  rooted  out,  if  love  for  human- 
ity is  to  grow. 

Therefore  the  young  child,  after  it  has  become  per- 
fectly familiar  with  the  members  of  its  own  family, 
should  enter  into  a larger  community,  especially  into 
one  where  it  will  find  those  of  its  own  age.  There  is 
instinctive  sympathy  among  children  in  the  same  stage 
of  development,  as  in  later  periods  of  life  those  who  are 
animated  by  like  feelings  and  thoughts,  or  have  the  same 
pursuits,  are  attracted  toward  each  other.  In  fine 
weather  the  Kindergarten  is  the  best  gathering  place 
for  young  children,  even  before  the  second  year.  It  is 
far  better  than  public  promenades,  streets  and  squares, 
though  the  little  ones  must,  of  course,  always  be  at- 
tended by  their  mothers  or  nurses,  while  they  observe 
the  amusements  and  occupations  of  the  older  children. 

The  family  relations  are  also  shown  to  the  child,  by 
means  of  hand  plays  given  in  The  Mother  Cosseting 
Songs.”  A branch  with  many  buds  will  suggest  to  an 
older  child  these  relations.  In  the  two  largest  buds  it 
will  sec  papa  and  mamma,  in  others  brothers  and 
sisters  according  to  size.  The  little  girl  plays  father, 
mother  and  child  with  her  dolls,  as  well  as  her  com- 
panions. These  examples  show  that  the  family  re- 


Ill 


lations  are  the  most  natural  ones,  and  those  which 
mostly  occupy  children.  In  early  childhood,  everything 
must  be  seen  in  symbols  which  give  clearer  ideas  of  the 
objects  than  the  objects  themselves.  In  one  of  the 
finger  plays,  the  father,  mother  and  children — including 
the  little  one  itself — are  represented,  counted,  and 
named.  Again,  while  the  mother  presses  the  fingers 
one  after  another,  she  says:  ^^For  the  thumb  I say 
one,  for  the  first  finger,  two,  for  the  middle  finger  I say 
three,  for  the  ring  finger,  four,  for  the  little  finger, 
five ; now  we  have  put  them  all  to  sleep ; they  sleep 
soundly  and  sweetly.  Be  quiet  that  none  may  awaken 
too  early!” 

Counting  is  an  almost  inexhaustible  pleasure  for 
little  children,  as  everything  is  which  serves  for  their 
development,  if  it  is  only  given  in  a way  they  can 
understand.  It  is  easy  to  make  them  aware  of  number 
in  the  measure  of  music,  the  rhythm  of  poetry,  and  in 
various  other  movements.  The  little  game  with  the 
fingers  serves  also  for  the  very  young  child  as  an  exer- 
cise in  self-control.  Nothing  is  more  difficult  for  it 
than  to  remain  perfectly  quiet  without  motion,  without 
sound.  You  may  command  silence,  without  any  ap- 
parent necessity  for  it,  in  vain.  But  here  it  com- 
prehends the  meaning  of  the  play,  and  we  have  seen 
little  children,  with  a very  important  air,  keep  per- 
fectly quiet,  holding  the  hand  still  many  minutes,  with 
the  idea  that  they  must  not  wake  the  sleeping  children. 
Of  little  ones  only  little  things  can  be  demanded.  Only 
in  such  playful  ways  the  child  gets  conceptions,  and  a 


112 


little  exertion  gradually  increased,  makes  finally  the 
greatest  exertion  possible.  Laziness  in  children  of- 
ten results  from  the  care  which  parents  take  to  save 
them  from  all  exertion,  to  have  everything  done  for 
them. 

In  another  play,  the  fingers  are  made  into  a flower 
basket,  in  which  the  child  carries  fiowers  to  its  father. 
Thus  even  the  youngest  finds  means  to  practically  show 
affection  for  its  father  or  other  friends. 


Flower  Basket. 


Motto  for  the  Mother. 
What  the  pretty  babe  requires, 
To  call  its  feelings  into  play, 

The  mother’s  tenderness  inspires ; 
The  infant  owns  the  parent’s  sway. 

Song  for  the  Child. 

Little  hands  can  learn  to  make 
A basket  in  a minute. 

And  mamma  can  quickly  take 
Some  pretty  fiowers  to  fill  it. 

The  basket  is  not  broad  or  long, 


113 


But  flowers  look  cheerful  there ; 

We’ll  give  them,  with  a little  song, 

To  papa,  when  he  comes  here.^ 

Sweet  flowers,  you  are  for  papa ; 

La,  la,  la,  la;  la,  la,  la,  la. 

r 

^ Fecebel  says:  Human  life  must  appear  to  the 

child  as  a whole,  indicating  to  it  its  individual  destiny.” 
The  child  must  learn  to  feel  itself  a link  in  the  great 
chain  of  humanity,  and  to  forget  self  in  doing  loving 
acts  for  others.  It  is  an  essential,  leading  idea  with 
Frcebel,  appearing  in  his  book  as  everywhere  else, 
that  the  connection  among  things,  as  well  as  among 
men,  should  be  made  plain  to  the  child’s  mind. 

There  is  a tendency  in  this  age  to  form  associations 
for  the  accomplishment  of  certain  ends.  If  family 
associations  could  be  brought  about,  for  the  purpose 
of  improving  educational  science  and  harmonizing  its 
diflerent  methods,  they  would  be  of  greater  benefit  to 
the  race  than  all  the  combinations  for  material  and 
industrial  purposes  alone.  For  such  union  the  Kinder- 
garten afibrds  the  best  opportunity.  It  begins  educa- 
tion in  a community  of  families  related  by  friendship, 
where  every  member  has  a chance  to  use  his  talents 
for  the  benefit  of  the  young  generation. 


114 


Chapter  YII. 

Froebel’s  Mother  Cosseting  Songs. 

Continued. 

There  are  in  the  life  of  adults,  as  well  as  in  the  life  of 
nations  and  humanity  at  large,  epochs  which  exercise 
a formative  influence  on  it.  Something  similar  takes 
place  in  the  life  of  children,  and  Froebel  points  out  to 
mothers  that  by  taking  advantage  of  certain  moments 
the  right  educational  influence  is  derived.  The  less 
the  child’s  consciousness  is  developed,  the  stronger  will 
be  the  moral  effect  of  those  incidents  that  seem  to  us 
trivial.  If  the  importance  of  such  events  were  rightly 
estimated ; if  the  impression  made  by  them  were  not 
too  quickly  effaced,  and  so  the  true  effect  disturbed, 
the  whole  moral  development  would  rest  on  a flrmer 
basis.  Everything,  even  the  smallest  incident  in  the 
life  of  the  infant,  is  of  importance,  because  it  is  the 
beginning  of  all  that  is  to  follow.  For  instance,  Frce- 
BEL  considers  the  child’s  first  fall  as  one  of  the  most 
important  events  in  its  early  development,  the  effect  of 
which  should  not  be  disturbed.  The  child’s  courage  in 
running,  proceeds  from  ignorance  of  danger ; it  is  like 
virtue  which  has  been  neither  tried  nor  tempted.  The 
child  falls,  and  its  security  of  ignorance  is  at  once 
shaken.  Friends  who  rush  to  the  rescue,  lamenting 


115 


over  and  petting  it,  are  unwise.  Even  though  it 
should  be  a little  hurt  and  scream  in  consequence,  it 
should  be  left  to  itself  long  enough  to  receive  a full 
impression  from  this  first  fright  and  hurt.  Then 
caution  awakes,  self-confidence  is  no  more  blind,  and 
the  necessity  for  gaining  strength  and  skill  is  learned 
by  degrees.  IN'othing  renders  men  more  superficial 
than  a quick  succession  of  impressions,  of  which  the 
one  effaces  the  other  without  leaving  any  distinct  trace 
in  the  soul.  The  present  generation,  especially  in 
^^high  life”,  furnish  proof  of  this.  East  reading,  fast 
travelling,  the  crowding  of  all  kinds  of  enjoyments, 
even  the  higher  ones  of  nature  and  art;  the  pressure 
and  hurry  of  life,  more  than  anything  else,  make  great 
numbers  in  our  day  superficial,  empty  and  wholly 
devoid  of  the  spirit  of  poesy. 

As  we  can  trace  all  the  culture  of  man  back  to  its 
starting  point  in  the  influences  of  nature,  so  we  shall 
find  that  the  awakening  of  conscience  proceeds  in  a 
manner  analogous  to  the  processes  of  nature.  As 
clearly  as  we  recognize  natural  laws,  do  we  see  that 
neglect  of  or  want  of  conformity  to  them,  is  outwardly 
and  visibly  expressed  in  physical  disease  and  suffering. 
In  the  moral  world,  the  violation  of  moral  law  is  ex- 
pressed inwardly  by  the  voice  of  conscience,  and  its 
outward  manifestation  we  call  sin. 

The  importance  of  the  first  plays  of  children  has  not 
yet  been  sufficiently  recognized.  They  are  a manifesta- 
tion of  the  character  of  the  human  being  in  its  first 
appearing,  and  as  such  worthy  of  study,  not  so  much 


116 


in  their  form  as  in  the  indications  which  they  furnish. 
Here  again  those  who  do  not  understand  the  soul  of 
the  child,  who  have  forgotten  their  own  childhood,  may 
smile,  because  we  see.  in  those  simple  plays  the  germ 
of  the  soul-life,  the  seeds  of  spiritual  development.  But 
if  the  first  plays  of  the  child,  its  first  childish  utterances, 
are  not  in  connection  with  the  last  works  of  mature  age, 
there  is  no  coherence  in  human  life,  no  consecutive- 
ness in  the  development  of  man’s  spiritual  nature.  Only 
when  this  connection  is  fully  understood,  and  education 
does  not  sever  the  thread  which  unites  the  child  with 
the  youth,  will  manhood  and  old  age  reahze  their 
ideals.  Then  true  men,  noble  characters,  will  be  de- 
veloped. Humanity  must  again  be  brought  into  close 
contact  with  nature.  Natural  sciences  should  be  more 
studied  with  nature  herself  as  the  text-book.  But  that 
this  may  be  done,  we  must  begin  to  give  to  babes  the 
symbolisms  of  nature,  which  they  understand  better 
than  anything  else.  As  humanity  in  the  early  dawn  of 
its  life  understood  the  language  of  nature,  and  heard 
God’s  voice  in  it,  so  the  child  understands  nature’s 
language  of  beauty  and  poetry;  and  to  give  it  artificial 
things  instead  of  natural  objects,  is  a cruel  wrong. 
Frcebel  says  in  relation  to  man’s  unity  with  nature: 

What  God  has  united  man  shall  not  sever.” 

A well-known  play,  pleasing  to  the  youngest  children, 
is  ^^Hide  and  seek”.  The  face  of  the  older  person,  or 
of  the  child,  is  covered  with  a handkerchief,  and  when 
this  is  withdrawn  the  child  will  manifest  lively  pleasure. 
Frcebel  says  of  this  play:  ^^That  which  everywhere. 


IIT 


among  the  smallest  children,  causes  a manifestation  of 
joy,  a play  everywhere  played  with  them,  must  have  a 
deep  significance, — of  that  you  may  be  sure.”  Let  us 
see  how  he  interprets  it  for  us.  The  joy  which  the 
child  manifests  on  seeing  the  mother  again  after  sepa- 
ration, proceeds  from  the  deepened  impression  of  union 
with  her  given  by  means  of  the  contrast.  But  if  the 
concealment  last  too  long,  or  if  the  mother  fail  to  show 
her  joy  at  seeing  the  child  again,  it  may  cause  disap- 
pointment, and  awaken  a liking  for  concealment  in  the 
child,  which  may  lead  to  lying,  or  the  concealment  of 
the  truth.  Who  can  tell  how  the  first  germs  of  evil  in 
children  come,  and  how  they  are  indicated?  The  least 
spark  which  illuminates  the  darkness  of  the  first  psycho- 
logical processes  in  the  human  soul,  is  of  importance, 
and  Frgebel  has  certainly  looked  deep  into  the  original 
soul-life  of  the  child.  Good  and  bad  are  closely  con- 
nected, and  as  God’s  Providence  often  turns  bad  into 
good,  so  education  should  seek  to  turn  the  tendency  to 
evil  into  a channel  for  good.  At  the  point  where  the 
danger  of  leading  the  child  to  secretiveness  comes,  help 
should  also  come.  If  the  mother  make  this  an  occasion 
for  deepening  in  the  child’s  mind  the  impression  of  its 
unity  with  her,  everything  is  gained.  Outer  separation 
gives  the  sense  of  inner  connection,  for  everywhere 
unity  is  the  end,  and  separation  merely  the  means  to 
bring  it  to  perception.  This  is  Frcebel’s  explanation 
of  the  play,  and  it  agrees  with  his  law  of  contrasts  and 
their  connections,  which  he  applies  on  the  moral  plane 
as  well  as  in  his  occupations,  He  never  leaves  a dis- 


118 


cord  or  contrast  till  it  is  resolved  into  an  accord  or 
unity  by  connection. 

The  most  essential  thing  in  the  child’s  education,  is 
the  estabhshment  of  full  confidence  in  the  mother  (as 
well  as  later  in  the  teacher),  so  that  it  may  not  attempt 
to  Mde^  in  case  it  should  commit  a fault.  But  this  con- 
fidence can  only  be  secured  by  living  with  the  child  its 
own  life,  by  playing  with  it,  by  entering  sympathetically 
into  all  things  which  move  its  soul,  and  in  rightly  under- 
standing and  rightly  guiding  the  manifestations  of  its 
first  development.  Has  the  first  fault  been  committed  ? 
Loving  sympathy  with  the  first  interior  sufiering  of  the 
child,  as  with  an  evil  he  has  himself  brought  about,  is 
often  more  effectual  than  the  severest  blame.  That  this 
blame  must,  sooner  or  later,  be  expressed,  is  certain,  but 
it  is  always  better  to  make  the  child  see  the  real  conse- 
quences as  the  effect  of  the  fault  committed.  A look,  a 
gesture,  be  it  of  gladness  or  of  sorrow,  the  smallest 
child  will  understand.  The  moment  of  the  first  wrong- 
doing is  therefore  very  important,  because  it  is  the 
point  at  which  conscience  awakens.  That  it  may 
listen  to  this  inner  voice,  it  is  essential  that  a child 
should  learn  to  listen  to  an  outer  voice,  to  a call,  to 
pay  attention  to  it,  if  it  is  addressed  to  itself.  Frce- 
BEL  links  this,  to  the  play  ^ ‘ Cuckoo,  Cuckoo”,  in  which 
the  child,  not  seeing  the  mother,  hears  her  voice  and 
rejoices  over  it.  If  a child  is  taught  to  listen  to  and 
obey  its  mother’s  voice  leading  to  what  is  good  and 
right,  it  will  learn  to  listen  to  its  own  inner  voice,  nor 
leave  it  unheeded.  If  a mother  has  secured  the  child’s 


119 


joyful  obedience  to  her  voice,  because  she  has  never 
commanded  what  was  contrary  to  its  highest  good,  and 
has  studied  not  to  require  what  would  be  subversive  of 
the  child’s  personality,  then  she  will  easily  teach  it  to 
love  and  to  obey  the  voice  of  conscience,  or  God’s  voice, 
that  will  accompany  it  through  life  as  a guardian  angel; 
and  she  will  make  it  see  that  this  is  a relation  connect- 
ing man  with  God.  The  same  relation  which  exists 
between  the  child  and  the  mother,  when  it  begins  to 
distinguish  its  will,  its  personality  from  hers,  will  after- 
ward be  recognized  by  the  child,  as  existing  between 
its  individual  inclinations  and  the  warning  voice  or 
judgment  ot*  conscience.  If  there  are  love,  loving  obedi- 
ence and  perfect  trust  between  mother  and  child,  instead 
of  fear  of  punishment  and  severity,  then  true  morality 
and  dignity,  which  do  not  act  from  inner  or  outer  con- 
straint, will  guide  the  child;  it  will  love  the  good  for 
good’s  sake;  it  will  obey  the  inner  voice  from  free 
choice,  from  love  of  God.  Man  may  become  a morally 
free  agent,  or  he  may  be  a slave  to  his  own  passions, 
or  do  the  behests  of  others,  from  flattery,  threats  or 
promises  of  gain  held  out,  and  for  each  condition  the 
foundations  may  be  laid  at  this  early  period  of  life.  The 
character  of  a man  does  not  depend  upon  the  number 
of  his  failures,  but  upon  the  manner  in  which  he  rises 
and  makes  amends  for  the  faults  committed.  In  our 
time  and  in  this  country  where  obedience  to  the 
authority  of  a person  is  not  demanded,  it  is  evidently 
of  the  greatest  importance  that  education  should  aim 
at  developing  obedience  to  law.  Parents  must  early 


120 


show  the  child,  that  they  too,  that  teachers  and  all 
grown  persons,  have  to  obey  a superior;  that  they  can 
not  do  as  they  please  in  violation  of  the  right  any  more 
than  children  can.  This  should  be  done  to  awaken  the 
idea  of  lawfulness  and  morality,  an  idea  which  becomes 
the  governing  power,  when  children  have  outgrown 
the  authority  of  the  parents. 

All  the  good  and  rightful  qualities  of  the  child,  may 
be  reversed  and  become  faults.  Early  education  has, 
generally,  to  deal  first  with  wilfulness  or  obstinacy. 
Without  self-will  character  could  not  be  developed.  To 
insist  on  one’s  own  peculiarities,  one’s  own  opinion, 
one’s  own  will,  till  overruled  by  something  higher,  is 
right,  because  upon  this  is  based  self-responsibility  or 
that  which  constitutes  man  an  accountable,  free-willed 
being.  The  child’s  obstinacy  is  the  reverse  of  this 
awakened  personality.  Obstinacy  may  be  aroused  by 
doing  something  that  the  child  dislikes,  or  refusing  it 
something  that  it  wants.  If  what  it  desires  is  legiti- 
mate, something  that  serves  for  its  sustenance  or  devel- 
opment, then  the  child  is  in  the  right;  but  if  it  is  simply 
unwilling  to  submit  to  a reasonable  demand  of  its  el- 
ders, it  is  wrong  and  must  not  be  listened  to.  If  a 
babe  screams  in  its  cradle  for  want  of  nourishment,  or 
because  it  requires  attention,  it  should  not  be  left  un- 
heeded a moment.  If  it  is  neglected,  the  tone  of  its 
cry  changes  into  that  of  obstinacy  and  anger,  and  the 
attendants  are  to  blame;  but  if  it  screams  merely  be- 
cause it  is  more  agreeable  to  it  to  be  taken  up,  it  should 
not  always  be  gratified,  lest  it  become  wilful  and  tyran- 


121  — 


nical  toward  attendants.  Certainly  it  is  reasonable 
that  a child  should  want  what  is  agreeable,  and  dislike 
to  be  left  alone  and  unoccupied;  but  it  must  early  learn 
to  submit  to  conditions;  to  miss  sometimes,  for  a sea- 
son, what  is  most  agreeable,  and  submit  to  what  is  less 
pleasant,  for  the  sake  of  others.  This,  however,  must 
not  be  carried  too  far  or  last  too  long,  and  necessary 
attention  ought  never  to  be  withheld.  It  is  difficult  to 
do  always  the  right  thing,  but  love,  the  highest  prin- 
ciple, allied  with  wisdom,  is  the  safest  guide.  The  child 
should  obey  from  love  which  awakens  energy  for  good, 
not  from  fear  which  makes  cowardly.  From  loving 
obedience  springs  veneration  which  leads  to  the  fear  of 
God. 

In  education,  wrong  obedience  is  often  mistaken  for 
right  obedience,  that  is,  the  child’s  will  is  broken  instead 
of  turned  into  the  right  course;  and  it  is  for  this  reason 
that  so  few  persons  are  self-centred,  or  inwardly  free 
and  able  to  govern  themselves.  Fecebel’s  general  rules 
are  to  leave  the  child  as  much  as  possible  to  itself,  with- 
out commanding  or  forbidding,  and  to  allow  it  to  gain 
its  own  experiences  so  far  as  that  may  be  done  without 
injury.  It  would  not  be  difficult  to  secure  the  child’s 
obedience,  if  the  right  means  were  adopted.  Children, 
as  well  as  animals,  have  instinctive  perception  of  good 
intentions;  a look  into  the  eyes  suffices  to  cause  a feel- 
ing of  trust  or  distrust  toward  those  who  have  them  in 
charge.  The  main  point  is  to  awaken  love,  and  gain 
the  cliild’s  confidence,  never  asking  anything  beyond 
its  strength  or  capacity.  In  the  beginning,  it  is  better 


— l22  — 

to  avoid,  as  much  as  possible,  requiring  what  is  distaste- 
ful, only  by  degrees  demanding  what  involves  self-deni- 
al, what  is  difficult  or  unpleasant.  The  foundation  of 
obedience,  as  well  as  that  of  all  other  virtues,  is  laid  in 
early  childhood.  Some  of  these  virtues  are,  in  the  main, 
only  good  habits  acquired  then,  and  afterward  not  diffi- 
cult to  retain.  Frcebel  has  given  excellent  advice 
and  hints  to  mothers  in  ^^The  Cosseting  Songs^\  and 
therefore  they  are  invaluable  aids  in  moral  training. 

In  its  relations  to  men,  after  a knowledge  of  those 
most  intimately  related  to  it  is  gained,  the  child  will  be 
led  to  observe  the  life  of  the  various  trades  and  profes- 
sions. It  must  become  acquainted  with  the  functions 
of  human  industry,  with  work  in  its  manifold  forms. 
The  little  child  likes  to  imitate  in  play  the  motions  made 
in  planing,  sawing,  threshing,  boring,  etc.*  This  imita- 
tion will  lead  to  more  careful  observation  of  those  oc- 
cupations; the  different  motions  employed  will  impart 
flexibility  to  the  hand,  and,  by  developing  its  skill  thus 
early,  prepare  the  child  for  its  own  future  work  in  life. 
Such  daily  gymnastics  may  be  made  the  basis  for  a first 
fulfilment  of  duties,  and  will  fit  the  child  to  perform 
them.  A play  called  ^^The  Carpenter”,  serves  to 
awaken  love  for  house  and  home.  Children  love  to 
build  houses,  if  it  is  only  with  chairs  in  the  corner  of  a 
room,  but  while  love  of  home  is  cultivated,  exclusive- 
ness  and  family  egotism  should  be  guarded  against. 


12S 


The  Carpenter. 


The  house  is  represented  by  the  position  of  the  fin/ 
gers;  the  two  thumbs  moved  as  if  hammering^  repres- 
ent two  carpenters  working  on  the  crossbeam,  A 
little  song  accompanies  this  play  as  well  as  all  other 
plays. 

In  The  Charcoal  Man’s  Hut”,  the  child  is  taught  the 
dignity  of  labor,  and  that  useful  work,  even  though 
not  clean,  is  honorable.  Let  it  be  told  how  many  use- 
ful things  are  made  by  means  of  charcoal:  knives, 
forks,  spoons,  nails,  etc.,  and  that  although  the  char- 
coal-man’s hands  and  face  are  black,  his  heart  may  be 
good  and  true. 

'^The  Market-Booth”  is  designed  to  give  an  idea  of 
commerce,  but  the  ideal  side  should  be  represented; 
and  the  child  should  understand  that  a great  deal  of 
labor  is  required  to  make  all  these  nice  things.  It 
should  be  made  to  see  that  this  exchange  is  one  of 


124 


love,  and  be  led  to  anticipate  with  pleasure  the  time 
when,  grown  a man,  it  may  contribute  its  share  of 
useful  labor  to  the  community.  If  children  are  taken 
to  fairs,  it  is  not  well  always  to  buy  presents  for  them. 
They  should  learn  to  see  and  admire  things  without 
greedily  wishing  to  possess  them. 

One  powerful  means  of  awakening  the  ideal  side 
of  the  human  being,  is  the  early  cultivation  of  art; 
and  the  blending  of  art  with  industry  in  our  time 
makes  it  almost  a necessity  for  all  grades  and  classes 
of  society.  There  is  hardly  any  branch  of  industry  in 
which  drawing  is  not  required.  Music  is  more  and 
more  cultivated  by  all.  ^^The  Finger  Piano”  is  an 
exercise  for  the  fingers,  and  accompanied  by  song 
cultivates  the  ear,  teaches  time,  rhythm  and  lawfulness 
of  motion.  Patties,  bunches  of  keys,  all  discordant 
noises,  ought  to  be  given  up;  songs,  some  pleasant  in- 
strument, the  sounds  of  nature,  are  best  for  the  young 
child.  One  of  the  greatest  singers  of  our  age,  Jenny 
Lind,  says,  that  her  musical  talent  first  showed  itself 
and  began  to  develop  at  the  age  of  four  years,  when 
she  went  into  the  garden  or  field,  and  tried  to  imitate 
the  songs  of  various  birds  and  the  hum  of  the  bee  or  fiy. 

According  to  Frcebel,  drawing  is  to  be  one  of  the 
first  occupations  of  the  child,  because  in  this  employ- 
ment it  can  most  easily  produce  something.  It  likes  to 
follow  the  contours  of  objects  with  its  fingers,  and  in 
this  way  gets  a more  accurate  idea  of  the  forms.  To 
facilitate  the  child’s  instinctive  manifestations  in  this 
direction,  Frcebel  would  have  the  mother  spread  sand 


125 


on  a table,  and  let  the  little  one  draw  figures  of  famil- 
iar objects  upon  it,  e.  g.  a window  with  lengthwise 
and  crosswise  marks.  In  giving  the  child  other  than 
objects  themselves,  we  should  choose  the  image  of  the 
thing  rather  than  its  sign  in  letters  and  written  words; 
therefore  linear  drawing  ought  to  precede  writing.  We 
see  in  Egyptian  art,  which  may  be  likened  to  the  draw- 
ing of  children,  only  outlines  of  things, — no  perspective. 

But  even  before  a child  can  hold  a pencil,  it  can  lay 
little  sticks — embodied  lines — in  various  forms,  for, 
from  the  beginning,  Frcebel  would  have  self-activity, 
creative  self-activity,  cultivated  in  the  child.  He  often 
repeats:  ^^Let  us  try  to  have  the  child  embody  all  its 
perceptions  in  actions,  only  thus  can  laziness  and  iner- 
tia be  overcome,  even  from  the  beginning”.  It  has 
not  been  known  hitherto  that  even  the  smallest  child 
ought  to  be  led  to  do  something  to  satisfy  its  natural 
craving  for  activity,  which  if  disregarded  will  be  turned 
into  inertia.  The  laying  of  sticks,  or  drawing,  serves 
to  teach  a child  much  about  shape,  size  and  number. 
It  should  not  be  merely  receptive,  and  thus  collect  an 
incongruous  mass  of  forms  and  images  which  are  never 
used.  What  it  has  received  interiorly  it  should  express 
outwardly;  this  is  what  the  child  wishes  to  do,  but  the 
means  are  often  wanting.  Observe  children  standing 
at  a window.  How  eagerly  they  watch  men  and 
animals  passing  in  the  street,  or  notice  the  opposite 
houses  I If  they  happen  to  have  a slate  and  pencil, 
they  often  try  to  reproduce  what  they  have  seen  with 
a few  lines;  and  very  lively  children  will  imitate  the 


126 


motions  of  passing  objects.  They  love  to  play  horse, 
they  get  on  hands  and  feet  to  run  like  dogs,  etc.  The 
wish  to  imitate  is  the  first  incitement  to  activity,  but 
it  should  not  rest  there,  it  should  lead  to  free  activity, 
to  invention.  Though  it  have  slate  and  pencil,  the 
very  young  child  can  not  reproduce  as  it  would  like; 
it  can  not  yet  hold  the  pencil,  it  can  not  yet  draw, 
it  is  soon  tired  of  the  few  marks  which  it  makes  at 
random,  because  they  do  not  represent  what  it  wishes; 
and  soon  it  falls  into  a habit  of  vacant  staring  at 
things  without  distinguishing  them. 

How  very  little  scope  and  aid  are  given  to  youthful 
activity!  Yet  if  it  is  not  fostered,  it  is  deadened; 
idleness  becomes  a habit  which  the  children  at  last 
come  to  like,  while  they  dread  every  exertion.  It 
would  seem  that  nothing  is  thought  of  but  to  make  the 
child  receive  first  with  eyes  and  ears,  then  with  the 
mind,  learning  and  learning  but  never  doing ! Frce- 
BEL  teaches,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  child  should  not 
see,  hear  or  learn  anything  which  it  can  not,  by  repro- 
ducing, make  its  individual  property;  and,  as  we  have 
seen,  he  furnishes  the  means  for  accomplishing  this,  in 
early  drawing, — the  earliest  in  sand,  in  stick  laying, 
easier  than  drawing,  and  in  the  modelling  in  clay,  thus 
preparing  the  child  for  artistic  productions. 

In  his  book,  ^ ^ The  Education  of  Mankind  ”,  Froebel 
says:  ^^The  faculty  of  drawing  is  as  natural  to  the 
child  as  the  faculty  of  speech,  for  word  and  sign  are 
as  closely  related  as  soul  and  body”.  When  in  all  the 
departments  of  the  child’s  knowing j the  application  of 


121 


it,  the  doing j is  intimately  connected,  and  every  pecul- 
iarity finds  its  means  of  expression;  when  the  works  of 
little  children  make  them  conscious  of  their  own  crea- 
tive power,  and  disclose  their  talents  and  inclinations, 
then  the  children  of  a future  day  will  not,  as  is  now 
the  case,  be  crammed  with  dead  knowledge,  and  pre- 
sume to  judge  of  everything  in  a critical,  precocious 
manner,  without  ever  producing  anything,  unable  to 
act  with  force  and  power.  In  what  are  called  the 
higher  classes  of  society,  the  young  people  now-a-days 
know  a great  deal  too  much  or,  at  least,  think  they 
know  very  much.  They  can  not  condescend  to  do 
anything,  and  prefer  to  produce  nothing.  In  the 
lower  classes  again,  young  people  are  mere  drudges 
or  machines,  and  thought  is  unconnected  with  their 
work.  The  true  balance  between  receptivity  and 
productivity  has  been  lost  and  must  be  re-established. 
This  may  be  done  by  Frcebel’s  method;  by  it  early 
childhood  is  instructed  through  that  which  it  produces 
and  experiences;  doing  is  from  the  start  made  the 
source  and  the  companion  of  knowing.  In  a moral 
point  of  view  too  the  child  is  first  made  to  act  accord- 
ing to  moral  law,  before  it  is  taught  morality  in  the 
form  of  abstraction  or  precept.  True  morality  is  only 
evinced  in  action. 

As  we  have  found  that  the  human  being,  following  a 
general  law  of  nature,  develops  according  to  its  species, 
and  have  seen  that  it  bears  a threefold  relation, — to 
nature,  to  man,  and  to  God, — we  must  now  look  into 
Frcebel’s  ideas  concerning  the  development  of  the 


128 


religious  side  of  the  child’s  nature,  or  its  relation  to 
God. 

The  belief  in  a divine  Being,  in  God,  is  inborn ; it  is 
an  intuition,  a germ  contained  in  the  soul,  that  may  be 
developed  or  neglected.  As  every  spiritual  develop- 
ment, all  consciousness,  proceeds  from  undefined  per- 
ceptions and  feelings,  so  the  perception  of  God,  or 
Deity.  But  as  no  development  proceeds  without  out- 
ward stimulation,  without  means  adapted  to  the  end, 
so  childhood  must  have,  as  humanity  had,  a revelation, 
bringing  the  unconscious  groping  and  longing  into 
consciousness,  giving  expression  to  feeling  and  a defin- 
ite shape  to  faith.  But  how  does  God  manifest  Him- 
self to  the  young  child  ? Is  this  possible  in  the  first 
year  of  life?  We  may  say  that  the  childish  uncon- 
sciousness is  a resting  in  God,  a union  with  God.  That 
which  is  not  separated  from  us  is  not  objective,  for  we 
cannot  place  ourselves  in  contrast  with  that  which  is 
inseparable  from  us.  While  the  young  child  is  uncon- 
scious of  self-existence,  is  not  yet  a conscious  personal- 
ity, it  is  one  with  everything  that  surrounds  it,  and 
is  in  close  relation  to  it.  Therefore  Frcebel  says: 
^^The  child  is  in  unity  with  nature,  with  man 
and  with  God”.  It  lives  yet  in  Paradise,  in  the  time 
before  the  disruption, — previous  to  the  inner  and  outer 
i^eparation, — as  mankind  did  in  the  beginning.  It  can 
have  no  religion,  for  that  implies  a striving  after  unity 
with  God,  and  no  one  strives  after  what  he  already 
possesses  ,*  only  when  something  is  lost  which  is  seen 
to  be  a good,  cioes  man  strive  after  it.  The  word,  re- 


129 


ligion,  expresses  the  idea  of  reunion  with  God:  God- 
union”  Frcebel  calls  it.  When  the  child  first  fails 
in  good,  the  unconscious  union  ceases  and  discord 
steps  in. 

In  the  visible  world  the  child  is  in  closest  union  with 
its  mother.  The  disposition,  the  tone  of  mind,  or  the 
passing  feeling  of  the  mother,  is  immediately  trans- 
mitted to  the  child.  If  she  is  frightened,  the  child  is 
also  frightened  without  knowing  why.  Frcebel  con- 
siders it  a difficult  problem  to  know  when  and  how  to 
influence  the  child,  and  nurse  the  divine  spark  within 
it.  He  says:  it  is  like  the  seed  germs  in  spring,  which 
exist  long  before  they  are  visible  to  us;  or  like  the  stars 
which,  astronomers  tell  us,  have  their  places  in  the 
heavens  long  before  their  rays  reach  our  vision.  But 
the  time  when  this  religious  development  in  the  child 
begins  we  can  not  mark  exactly.  If  we  begin  our 
nursing  too  early,  it  may  happen,  as  with  the  grain  of 
seed  which  is  exposed  too  soon  to  the  rays  of  the  sun, 
or  receives  too  much  fructifying  moisture — the  tender 
germ  will  be  blighted.  But  if  we  come  too  late,  or  our 
efforts  are  too  feeble,  we  may  likewise  fail.  What  then 
is  the  part  of  education  according  to  Frcebel?  He 
would  have  the  beginning  made  cautiously  by  means 
of  impressions  only.  A child  one  or  two  years  of  age 
is  magnetically  impressed,  if  it  sees  its  parents  engaged 
in  pious  devotion.  One  can  not  talk  to  so  young  a 
child  about  God. 

Music  enters  the  human  heart,  and  awakening  in- 
definite longings  impresses  the  soul,  therefore  Frcebel 


130 


desired  the  mother  to  sing  sometimes  sacred  music  to 
the  child,  or  to  play  simple  melodies  upon  a melodeon 
or  an  organ. 

Next  to  sound,  gesture  impresses  a young  child. 
The  folding  of  the  hands,  on  going  to  bed,  indicates 
that  they  have  now  nothing  more  to  do,  and  suggests 
concentration,  inner  collection,  as  the  plant  folds  up  its 
leaves  at  night.  At  first  the  mother  will  pray  for  the 
child,  and  when  it  can  understand,  it  should  join  in 
the  words,  but  not  mechanically;  the  mother  should 
direct  its  thoughts  to  all  the  good  it  has  received 
during  the  day,  awaken  gratitude  toward  all  those 
who  have  contributed  to  its  happiness,  and  finally  to 
the  Giver  of  all  good.  In  such  a frame  of  mind,  the 
simple  words:  ^^Dear  God,  I thank  Thee”,  are  a true 
prayer.  If  a child  has  done  wrong  in  the  day,  how 
easy  to  bring  the  fault  to  its  remembrance,  saying 
that  not  only  its  parents  but  God  was  grieved,  and 
then  lead  it  to  ask  His  forgiveness,  and  help  to  be- 
come better ! The  early  teaching  of  dogmas,  Bible 
history  and  Bible  verses,  which  it  can  not  comprehend, 
tends  more  to  weaken  and  deaden  all  religious  feeling 
than  to  awaken  it.  Only  what  the  child  experiences 
within  itself,  is  full  of  life.  The  mind  and  heart  must 
be  prepared  for  religious  teaching;  more  can  not  be 
done  at  this  age. 

The  history  of  creation  as  recorded  in  Genesis,  if  told 
to  the  child,  is  far  less  comprehensible,  than  the  idea 
of  God,  the  Creator,  which  comes  into  its  mind,  when 
it  is  shown  examples  in  nature,  and  led  to  observe 


131 


their  life  and  growth.  For  the  gaining  of  such  knowl- 
edge, a garden,  in  which  the  child  may  plant  seeds, 
is  of  inestimable  value.  Things  which  engage  its 
activity  make  lasting  impressions,  and  it  soon  per- 
ceives that  of  itself  it  can  make  nothing  grow. 

That  Christianity  should  become  active  is  the  need 
of  our  time.  Frcebel  says:  ^Taith  comes  through 
love,  but  love  cannot  exist  without  manifesting  itself. 
You  can  not  do  heroic  deeds  in  words  or  by  talking  of 
them.  You  can  educate  a child  to  self-activity  and  to 
works,  and  through  them  to  a faith  which  will  not  be 
dead.”  In  the  Mother  Cosseting  Songs'^  Frcebel 
wished  to  give  to  the  child  the  elements  of  all  culture; 
and  the  idea  of  religion  is  conveyed  in  the  hand  gym- 
nastic called  ‘‘The  Church  Window.”  The  fingers 
are  intertwined  to  represent  a gothic  arch,  and  with 
the  accompanying  music  give  the  impression  of  com- 
munity in  worship,  etc.  Eeligion  requires  the  giving 
up  of  one’s  self  to  something  higher,  the  surrender  of 
our  own  personality  and  self-will.  But  we  must  love 
the  Being  to  whom  we  thus  give  ourselves.  Before 
the  child  can  love  God  who  is  invisible,  it  must  love 
visible  men.  It  first  loves  God  in  man,  in  its  parents. 
All  primitive  religions  required  sacrifices,  such  ofier- 
ings  signifying  the  giving  up  of  egotism,  of  personality, 
without  which  a consecration  to  God  is  not  possible. 
If  the  child  is  always  accustomed  to  manifest  its  love 
in  deeds,  when  grown  up  it  will  not  merely  talk  about 
Christian  love  and  charity,  but  really  exercise  those 
spiritual  graces. 


132 


If  th^  child  has  gained  a general  idea  of  God,  the 
Creator,  in  nature,  it  must  also  in  man  learn  of  Him  as 
a Person.  As  humanity  needed  the  manifestation  of 
God  in  the  flesh,  as  an  ideal  after  which  to  strive,  so 
childhood  needs  the  ideal  found  in  the  Child  Christ,  a 
picture  of  whom,  represented  either  on  His  mother’s 
knees,  or  in  the  Temple,  should  be  hung  up  in  every 
nursery  and  every  kindergarten.  All  the  good  qualities 
of  children  may  be  ascribed  to  Jesus,  and  they  may  be 
reminded  that  Christ  was  always  obedient,  grateful 
and  loving.  In  thus  connecting  the  child’s  inner  and 
outer  life  with  the  childhood  of  Jesus,  a complete  ideal 
is  furnished,  and  by  linking  with  it  the  events  of  His 
further  life  on  earth,  Christmas  as  His  Birthday,  etc., 
historical  knowledge  may  be  given,  but  mere  dogmas 
should  not  be  taught  at  this  age.  Anything  of  which 
the  child  can  form  no  conception,  confuses  its  mind  and 
hinders  development.  It  is  not  wise  to  take  young 
children  to  church  constantly,  before  they  can  under- 
stand anything  of  public  worship  or  preaching.  Sunday 
schools  are  well  if  conducted  in  a manner  adapted  to 
childish  needs.  A child  can  not  become  religious  with- 
out means  and  help,  any  more  than  it  can  without 
them  become  intellectually  wise,  but  it  is  essential  that 
the  right  means  be  used,  the  right  help  given.  We 
should  see  to  it  that  the  coming  generation  imbibes  the 
true  spirit  of  the  Christian  religion,  so  that  it  may 
show  it  forth  in  a new  phase  of  humanity. 


Chapter  YIII. 
Fundamental  Forms. 


How  do  we  arrive  at  diversity  of  colors  ? By  mixing 
or  combining.  If  we  analyze  combinations  of  colors, 
we  receive  the  three  primary  ones,  red,  blue  and 
yellow.  All  study  of  colors,  every  employment  of 
them,  must  start  from  this  basis.  A painter  really 
needs  only  these  three;  all  others  he  can  produce  by 
combination.  A child  needs,  in  addition  to  these,  only 
the  first  mixture;  the  others  it  will  be  able  to  make  for 
itself,  if  the  rules  are  given.  Explain  to  it  that  by 
mixing  red  and  blue  we  have  purple;  that  blue  and 
yellow  make  green,  yellow  and  red,  orange,  and  it  will 
go  on  making  combinations  according  to  the  law.  How 
is  variety  of  melodies  produced  ? By  combinations  of 
sounds.  Analyzing  these  combinations,  we  arrive  at 
the  simple  elements  of  sound.  Musical  knowledge  must 
begin  with  these  elementary  sounds  and  their  names. 
The  combinations  follow  laws  similar  to  those  of  color. 
How  is  the  variety  of  human  features  brought  about, 
so  that  no  two  men  look  precisely  alike?  It  is  by 
combinations  of  the  hard  and  soft  parts  of  the  human 
countenance  which  vary  in  size  and  form.  Of  the 


134 


number  of  varieties  thus  arising  we  gain  an  idea,  if 
we  suppose  merely  thirty  dilferences  in  each  bone 
composing  the  face  to  be  possible.  For  instance,  if 
we  allow  to  the  forehead  ten  different  heights,  breadths 
and  curves,  we  shall  have  about  1,000,000,000,000,000. 
The  letters  of  the  alphabet  and  their  innumerable 
combinations  into  words  in  different  languages,  furnish 
another  example  of  this  law. 

IN'ow  let  us  ask,  how  does  the  untold  variety  of  all 
natural  objects,  and  of  all  the  productions  of  human 
hands,  originate  ? Are  there  any  fundamental  forms, 
original  models,  by  the  different  combinations  of  which 
every  form  that  exists  has  been  produced  ? If  so,  can 
we  by  analysis  of  such  combinations  arrive  at  these 
elementary  forms?  Must  we  have  a knowledge  of 
these,  in  order  to  understand  natural  objects,  and  in 
order  to  produce  any  kind  of  form  ourselves,  even  as, 
in  beginning  the  study  of  music  and  painting,  we  must 
acquire  a knowledge  of  elementary  sounds  and  colors  ? 
Certainly,  it  cannot  be  otherwise.  The  law  is  universal. 
What  then  are  these  original  models  for  the  creative, 
formative  imagination  and  hand  of  man?  They  are 
the  fundamental,  geometrical  forms  of  planes  and  the 
solids  proceeding  from  them.  By  analysis  of  these 
planes  in  their  diversity,  we  get  the  point,  the  line,  the 
angle, — right,  acute  and  blunt, — the  triangle, — right, 
acute,  and  blunt  angled  triangles, — the  four  cornered 
forms, — the  square,  rectangle  and  parallelogram,  and 
so  on;  according  to  the  number  of  sides  and  angles  we 
find  the  pentagon,  hexagon,  octagon  etc.,  till  we 


135 


reach  the  many-sided  form,  the  polygon,  and.  Anally, 
the  circle  comprising  within  itself  all  corners.  Adding 
the  oval,  or  ellipse,  we  have  all  the  fundamental  forms 
of  the  planes, — elements  of  form  analogous  to  the 
elementary  sounds  of  music. 

By  variation  and  combination,  the  diversities  of 
planes  and  solids  are  produced,  and  these  can  be  easily 
reduced  to  their  fundamental  forms.  From  the  triangle 
result  the  prism,  the  pyramid;  from  the  square,  the 
cube;  from  the  rectangle,  the  parallelopipedon;  from 
the  polygon,  the  polyhedron;  from  the  oval,  the  lens. 
These  are  the  fundamental  forms  of  the  solids,  the 
original  models  for  the  creative  human  brain  and 
hand.  He  who  would  understand  natural  forms,  or 
the  creations  of  art,  must  start  with  a knowledge  of 
these  primary  Agures.  Their  existence  was  demon- 
strated by  Pythagoras,  two  thousand  years  before 
Christ,  but  their  importance  in  organic  and  inorganic 
nature  was  not  recognized  and  duly  estimated  before 
our  own  time.  Linnaeus  pointed  to  crystal  forms  as 
a key  to  the  recognition  and  classiAcation  of  minerals. 
Bocks  and  stones  and  everything  they  include,  are 
crystals  agglomerated  into  masses^  each  crystal  having 
one  or  another  of  these  fundamental  forms.  What 
wonderful  harmony  and  simplicity  of  idea  these  struct- 
ures embody ! It  would  seem  that  the  all-wise  Creator 
of  the  world  has  shown  us  by  example,  that  a great 
variety  of  elements  is  not  necessary  to  a great  result  1 
But  these  fundamental  forms  are  likewise  the  basis  in 
organic  nature;  and  by  their  various  combinations  all 


136 


corporeal  things  exist.  The  human  mind  can  only 
reproduce,  and  the  human  hand  can  only  imitate 
what  is  given  in  nature.  Man  therefore  works 
according  to  and  with  these  fundamental  forms.  All 
drawing  deals  with  points,  lines,  angles,  triangles, 
squares,  many  - cornered  forms  and  curves.  The 
numberless  combinations  of  these  make  images  which 
again  are  but  imitations  of  nature  or  natural  objects. 
Every  branch  of  industry,  of  trade  or  mechanics,  uses 
as  a basis  these  primary  plane  forms,  working  from 
them  according  to  the  models  of  the  corresponding 
solids.  Art  and  trade  must  build  on  these  forms,  as  the 
musician  must  base  his  harmonies  on  the  elementary 
sounds.  If  man  should  disregard  these  simple  forms 
and  laws,  deeming  them  unimportant,  if  he  should 
refuse  to  study  them  and  their  combinations,  then  the 
material  world  would  be  closed  to  us,  for  without  these 
there  is  nothing  to  be  learned  or  worth  the  learning. 
Yet  how  little  is  really  known  about  such  forms  and 
laws  by  those  who  should  know  most! 

The  mason  cannot  do  without  his  plummet,  or  the 
carpenter  without  his  square,  but  how  many  know 
the  meaning,  the  i^ortance  of  these  necessary  tools  ? 
How  often  we  hear  mechanics  say:  That  is  all  useless 
theoretical  trash  1 you  have  to  learn  your  trade  prac- 
tically.” Owing  to  this  want  of  knowledge,  work  is 
too  often  done  mechanically  and  stupidly.  Man  should 
no  longer  pass  unheedingly  by  natural  laws  and  forms, 
and  all  these  necessary  things  ought  to  be  taught  in 
schools. 


No  subject  of  knowledge  is  so  near,  so  essential 
to  man,  as  a knowledge  of  nature  and  her  laws.  But 
geometry,  the  basis  of  all  natural  science,  should  not 
be  taught  at  the  outset  as  an  abstract  science)  it  is 
not  likely  thus  to  awaken  interest  in  many  youthful 
minds.  But  if  it  starts  from  the  original,  fundament- 
al forms  of  nature,  and  never  loses  its  connection 
with  them;  if  its  single  tenets  and  laws  are  deduced 
in  organic  connection  clear  to  the  pupil’s  conscious- 
ness, then  no  thoughtful  person,  no  one  who  is  inter- 
ested in  the  contemplation  of  nature,  will  pass  this 
fundamental  science  by  with  indifference.  How  great 
would  be  the  benefit  to  industry  and  the  life  of  the  na- 
tion, from  such  a popular  and  universal  knowledge  of 
geometry  and  the  natural  sciences  resting  upon  it, 
if  we  could  succeed  in  teaching  the  coming  generation, 
from  earliest  childhood,  to  think  over  again  the  grand 
creation  of  the  universe,  to  reproduce  it,  as  it  were, 
in  their  thoughts  ! Frcebel  conceived  the  importance 
of  such  an  effort,  and  therefore  he  made  the  eternal 
archetypes  of  nature  the  playthings  of  childhood^  and 
the  laws,  mutual  relations  and  combinations,  which 
nature  employs  in  her  secret  workshop,  the  child’’ s 
laivs  and  rules  of  play. 


We  see  then  that  the  great  variety  of  natural  forms 
surrounding  us  results  from  the  combination,  accord- 
ing to  ^'■ertain  laws,  of  a comparatively  few  elementary 


138 


ones.  We  see  further  that  before  we  can  rightly 
understand  the  compounds,  we  must  know  something 
about  the  simple  elements  of  which  they  are  composed. 
Now  when  a human  being  awakens  from  its  dream- 
life,  it  is  confronted  with  this  great  variety,  and  in- 
stantly begins  its  efforts  to  make  acquaintance  with 
the  world  that  surrounds  it.  Its  attempts  appear  to 
us  in  the  form  of  play.  The  child  knows  nothing, 
and  ought  to  know  nothing,  of  the  seriousness,  the 
hardships  of  work;  but  if  we  leave  it  entirely  unaided 
in  its  efforts,  do  we  make  its  task  easier  ? Some  say, 
it  is  best  to  leave  the  child  entirely  to  itself,  to  race 
and  tear,  romp  and  play  as  it  pleases,  but  is  it  not  in 
a sense  unkind  .and  barbarous  not  to  reach  out  to  it  a 
helping  hand,  as  it  seeks  in  its  childish  way  through 
much  difficulty  to  gain  experimental  knowledge  of 
things?  We  should  guard  against  too  great  or  pro- 
longed exertion  of  the  young  body  or  mind,  keeping 
from  the  latter  abstract  ideas,  while  we  seek  by  every 
means  to  convey  correct  impressions,  and  so  raise  the 
whole  development,  placing  it  upon  a more  perfect 
plane.  These  clear  impressions  may  be  received  in 
play,  and  they  will  aid  the  child  gradually  to  attain  a 
true  knowledge  of  objects,  in  its  immediate  surround- 
ings and  in  nature. 

The  first  occupation  with  external  things,  should 
begin  with  the  elementary  forms  and  models  that  we 
have  considered.  The  simplest  of  these  is  the  sphere, 
and  it  best  conveys  the  idea  of  unity.  Without  cor- 
ners, edges  or  sides,  it  demands  no  distinguishing 


139 


faculty  in  the  child.  The  simplest  of  all  differences, 
those  of  color,  are  alone  presented  in  it.  Hence,  to 
the  infant  awaking  from  its  slumber,  Frcebel  gives  in 
succession  six  worsted  balls  wrought  in  the  three 
primary  and  three  secondary  colors.  The  form  of  the 
sphere  is  the  most  perfect  in  nature.  As  the  circle 
may  be  considered  the  perfection  of  planes,  including 
them  all,  so  the  sphere  is  the  perfection  of  solids,  in 
which  all  others  are  comprehended.  The  heavenly 
bodies  are  all  spheres,  our  earth  is  a sphere,  producing 
an  infinite  variety  of  forms.  With  the  largest  sphere 
the  inorganic  world  ends,  with  the  minutest,  the  mi- 
croscopical cell,  the  organic  world  begins.  The  human 
organism  also  begins  existence  as  a cell,  and  thence 
arise  all  the  organs.  From  the  sphere  the  whole  or- 
ganic world  proceeds.  Look  then  at  the  importance 
of  the  ball  as  the  first  plaything  of  the  child  ! It  is 
the  simplest  of  all  forms,  and  therefore  best  adapted 
to  give  first  impressions  to  the  tender  mind;  yet  by 
suggestion  it  encloses  the  whole  universe  even  as  in 
the  child  may  be  seen  the  future  man. 

The  idea  of  the  relation  of  the  ball  to  other  objects, 
is  not  to  be  given  at  this  early  stage,  for  the  child  can 
perceive  only  one  thing  at  a time.  But  this  one  thing 
is  here,  there,  up  and  down  in  space,  disappears  and 
comes  back  at  intervals  in  time.  First  impressions, 
I do  not  say  perceptions,  of  space  and  time  so  difiicult 
for  a child  to  master,  are  thus  given  with  its  earliest 
toy.  Such  are  the  principal  ideas  underlying  the 
first  gift. 


140 


The  second  gift  consists  of  a wooden  sphere,  cylin- 
der and  cube.  Let  us  look  at  the  signiflcance  of  each 
of  these  objects.  The  cube  is  second  to  the  sphere  in 
simplicity  of  form.  Having  corners,  edges  and  faces 
answering  to  points,  lines  and  squares,  it  presents 
greater  variety  than  the  sphere,  but,  like  it,  shows 
one  and  the  same  form  on  whichsoever  face  it  may 
rest.  The  ball  is  alike  on  all  sides;  the  cube  shows 
differences  but  not  in  a bewildering  degree,  only  in  a 
way  suited  to  develop  the  child’s  faculty  of  compari- 
son. The  cylinder  is  the  connecting  link  between  the 
two.  The  plane  of  the  sphere  is  the  circle;  this  is 
seen  in  the  circular  faces  of  the  cylinder,  and  the  like- 
ness to  the  sphere  is  also  traced  in  the  cylinder’s  round 
sides.  We  have  before  noticed  that  the  circle  includes 
all  forms,  therefore  in  it  we  have  the  square  which 
from  its  simplicity  has  been  adopted  as  a normal 
standard  of  measurement, — the  square  inch,  foot,  etc. 
From  the  sphere  proceeds  the  form  next  in  simplicity, 
the  cube,  likewise  a normal  measure, — cubic  inch, 
foot,  etc.  If  we  suspend  the  cube  and  turn  it  in  differ- 
ent ways,  the  double  cone,  the  wheel,  and  the  cylinder 
appear, — the  three  fundamental  forms  of  mechanics, 
and  their  future  importance  is  thus  foreshadowed. 
After  giving  these  impressions,  the  three  objects  are 
used  in  play;  and  as  impressions  with  regard  to  time 
and  space  were  conveyed  by  means  of  the  first  gift, 
in  this  the  child  gains  an  idea  of  sound  connected  with 
motion  in  a hard  body;  of  rest  becoming  motion  as 
this  body  is  moved.  The  cube  rests  and  must  be 


141 


pushed,  it  will  not  roll.  The  child  must  see  that 
where  the  cube  is,  the  ball  cannot  be,  that  each  object 
occupies  space.  In  the  change  of  form  caused  by 
rotation,  he  will  also  distinguish  between  what  is 
permanent  and  what  is  transitory. 

The  third  gift  is  a cube  divided  into  eight  smaller 
cubes.  This  division  gives  for  the  first  time  the  im- 
pression of  measure.  Out  of  the  oneness  of  the  cube 
results  manifoldness j though  the  many  are  like  the 
one  in  form,  and  equal  among  themselves.  Hence 
impressions  of  resemblance,  similarity  and  difierence 
in  their  finer  distinctions,  are  made.  The  practical 
use  of  number  is  also  in  this  gift  extended.  From 
the  whole  come  the  halves,  quarters  and  eighths.  Each 
little  cube  is  a part  of  the  large  whole.  By  means  of 
this  cube,  the  child  is  now  able  to  embody  or  . express 
what  is  in  its  mind.  In  its  third  year,  it  is  so  far  ad- 
vanced, that  it  notices  differences  in  number,  shape, 
and  position,— it  begins  to  think.  It  can  also  gratify 
its  desire  for  activity,  in  making  forms  of  life,  or  use, 
forms  of  beauty,  or  symmetry,  and  forms  of  perception, 
or  knowledge,  by  the  division  into  halves,  quarters, 
etc.,  with  regard  to  different  directions  in  space.  The 
forms  of  perception  address  themselves  to  the  mind 
and  understanding;  the  forms  of  beauty  cultivate 
sentiment  and  feeling;  the  forms  of  life  lead  to  a close 
observance  of  objects,  and  to  a knowledge  of  their 
practical  uses  in  human  society. 

We  need  only  say  further  that  Frcebel’s  Gifts  pass 
in  orderly  sequence  from  the  divided  solid  to  the  sur- 


142 


face,  or  plane,  which  is  first  presented  in  the  square, 
and  afterwards  in  the  various  triangular  forms, 
through  a series  of  tablets.  Next  the  embodied  line 
is  given  in  small  staffs  of  different  lengths,  and  at 
last  the  point  is  indicated  by  the  child  in  its  employ- 
ment of  pricking.  Thus  passing  from  the  concrete  to 
the  verge  of  the  abstract,  correct  impressions  are 
constantly  deepened,  and  the  way  prepared  for  true 
perceptions.  Nature  furnishes  the  models  and  the 
laws  for  the  natural  development  of  mind. 

As  this  is  not  a Kindergarten  Manual,  we  do  not 
enter  into  all  Kindergarten  occupations  in  detail,  and 
even  the  best  guide  that  could  be  written  would  not 
suffice  for  the  instruction  of  kindergarten  teachers. 
We  wish  merely  to  show,  by  a glance  at  the  manner 
in  which  geometry  is  made  the  foundation  of  knowl- 
edge, that  what  is  considered  only  play  by  a super- 
ficial observer,  has  a deep,  scientific  basis  which  the 
teacher  must  perfectly  understand,  though  the  child 
is  not  yet  conscious  of  it.  The  two  extreme  objections 
raised  by  persons . unaware  of  the  true  import  of 
kindergarten  culture,  the  one  that  it  is  mere  play,  and 
the  other  that  little  children  are  over  stimulated  by 
it,  and  taught  a science  so  difficult  as  geometry,  thus 
correct  each  other. 


143 


Chapter  IX. 
Reading. 


It  may  seem  superfluous  to  speak  of  the  time- 
honored  custom  of  teaching  the  child,  first  of  all,  to 
read,  since  in  the  foregoing  pages  we  have  shown 
that  such  a custom  is  contrary  to  the  natural  order  of 
development.  But  prejudices  are  generally  firmly 
rooted,  and  unless  we  clearly  state  Frcebel’s  reasons 
for  not  wishing  to  begin  the  child’s  education  with 
reading,  its  exclusion  may  be  considered  a mere 
whim,  and  its  introduction  into  the  kindergarten 
exercises  a harmless  practice. 

We  have  found  that  orderly  development  leads  from 
the  real  object  to  the  image,  and  from  the  image  to 
the  symbol  or  sign;  and  if  we  look  back  in  history  and 
see  how  long  mankind  lived  and  progressed  before 
book  knowledge  formed  any  prominent  part  of  life  or 
education;  if  we  consider  the  complicated  forms  that 
compose  the  alphabet,  it  will  appear  reasonable  to 
argue  that  the  child’s  eye  should  first  become  familiar 
with  simple  forms;  that  its  perceptive  faculties  should 
be  somewhat  developed,  so  that  it  may  be  able  to 
compare  and  distinguish,  before  the  alphabet,  in  itself 
wholly  uninteresting,  is  presented  to  it. 

But  people  say:  ^‘Children  like  to  learn  their  letters 


144 


at  a very  early  age.”  If  they  do,  is  it  not  because 
parents  stimulate,  praise  and  reward  them  for  their 
efforts  to  master  them?  The  hungry  child  will  take 
almost  any  kind  of  food  that  is  offered  to  satisfy  its 
bodily  hunger,  even  the  unpalatable  if  very  hungry; 
and  it  is  only  natural  that  it  should  take  whatever 
mental  nourishment  is  offered,  however  unsuitable,  if 
it  is  starving  for  want  of  that  which  is  adapted  to  its 
faculties — the  case  nearly  always  in  the  early  years 
of  life. 

I can  not  help  a deep  feeling  of  pity  for  such  hap- 
less children,  when  a mother  tells  me  with  pride  that 
her  child  four  years  old  already  knows  his  letters  ! 
Poor  little  creatures  ! all  their  hard  striving  to  obtain 
knowledge  of  the  various  objects  that  surround  them, 
the  many  useful  things  that  they  truly  and  honestly 
learn  without  help,  often  in  spite  of  hinderance,  in 
the  first  years  of  their  lives,  — all  go  for  nothing ! 
They  are  called  stupid  and  dull,  if  they  fail  to  master 
those  cabalistic  signs!  Parents  are  so  impatient  to 
have  them  little  grown-up  men  and  women.  To  be  a 
child  and  do  childish  things  is  considered  almost  a 
disgrace,  something  to  be  ashamed  of,  or  like  a dis- 
ease to  be  got  rid  of  as  soon  as  possible.  But  is  the 
life  of  grown-up  people,  into  which  parents  are  so 
anxious  to  initiate  their  children,  a thing  so  delightful, 
X so  much  to  be  desired,  that  they  should  barter  all  the 
innocent  joys  and  delights  of  childhood  for  it?  We 
think  not. 

But,  it  is  urged,  there  is  so  much  to  be  learned  in 


145 


our  day,  no  time  should  be  lost,  children  must  begin 
very  early,  else  they  will  not  be  able  to  learn  all  that 
they  ought  to  know.  Is  intellectual  culture  then  all 
that  is  necessary,  or  the  most  important  ? Granting, 
even,  that  it  is,  do  we  lose  time,  if  we  postpone  reading 
and  writing  to  the  age  of  seven,  as  Frcebel  proposes, 
and,  instead,  send  the  child  from  its  third  year  to  the 
kindergarten  where  books  find  no  place  ? Experience 
teaches  that  when  children  so  prepared  enter  the 
primary  school,  they  soon  distance  others  who  have 
for  years  sat  listless,  -through  weary  hours,  to  the 
detriment  of  health,  over  the  printed  page. 

Does  not  American  history  show  us  that  its  so- 
called  self-made  men,  who  have  generally  learned  to 
read  later  in  life,  have  been  more  than  others  dis- 
tinguished for  executive  ability,  originality  of  thought 
and  practical  energy  ? And  here  we  touch  upon  an- 
other of  Frcebel^s  reasons  for  wishing  to  keep  books 
away  from  young  children:  he  desired  to  save  them 
from  habits  of  mental  indolence  induced  by  feeding 
upon  others’  thoughts,  without  the  necessity  for  self- 
exertion. In  their  state  of  mental  receptivity,  he 
saw  the  danger  of  overfeeding,  of  stifling  productivity; 
he  wished  to  make  even  the  very  young  child  a crea- 
tive agent. 

When  the  child  has  reached  its  seventh  year,  we 
would  strongly  recommend  the  use  of  Dr.  Leigh’s 
phonic  method  in  teaching  it  reading,  which  has  been 
introduced  with  the  best  results  into  the  public  schools 
of  St.  Louis,  and  into  some  of  the  schools  in  Boston 


146 


and  New  York.  We  have  ourselves  tested  its  practi- 
cal value  in  an  advanced  class,  and  know  that  children 
with  previous  kindergarten  training  learn  to  read  in 
an  incredibly  short  time,  requiring  only  a few  minutes 
of  instruction  each  day.  This  phonic  method,  or  pro- 
nouncing orthography,  has,  in  our  opinion,  many 
advantages  over  former  ones,  but  we  cannot  here 
mention  all.  It  serves  our  present  purpose  to  state 
that  we  deem  Dr.  Leigh’s  method  entirely  in  harmony 
with  Frcebel’s  system.  It  gives  for  every  sound  a 
sign,  and  children  can  intelligently  compose  or  build 
up  their  own  words,  or  dissect  and  separate  them 
again  into  their  constituent  parts,  as  they  have  been 
used  to  do  with  their  building-blocks.  Their  self- 
activity is  thus  incited  to  acquire  the  knowledge  of 
reading  in  a far  more  interesting  and  rational  way 
than  in  mere  memorizing  under  the  old  methods. 

Let  us  not  be  understood  to  advocate  letting  the 
child  run  wild  till  it  is  seven  years  old,  on  the  contrary 
we  deem  it  important  that  it  should  be  acquiring 
habits  of  concentration  and  application,  not  by  means 
of  abstractions,  but  through  interesting  employments, 
such  as  the  kindergarten  furnishes.  The  advantages 
of  kindergarten  training  over  the  ordinary  primary 
school  system  are  so  many,  and  can  be  so  easily  de- 
duced from  what  has  already  been  said,  that  we  need 
not  attempt  to  enumerate  them.  It  mil  readily  be 
seen,  that  there  is  no  art,  science  or  industry,  which, 
in  its  first  principles,  is  not  represented  in  the  occupa- 
tions of  the  kindergarten. 


147 


The  children  are  not  merely  theoretically  prepared 
for  whatever  may  be  their  future  pursuits  in  life;  but 
practical  doing  goes  hand  in  hand  with  theory.  It 
is  evident,  that  this  method  can  and  ought  to  be  car- 
ried beyond  the  age  of  seven;  that  theory  and  practice 
should  not  be  separated  in  our  higher  schools;  that 
older  pupils  should  have  the  advantages  of  Industrial, 
Scientific  and  Art  schools  (the  Boston  Institute  of 
Technology  is  doing  an  excellent  work  in  one  direc- 
tion), which  would  enable  them  to  perfect  themselves 
in  any  special  calling  for  which  the  kindergarten  de- 
velops an  aptitude  and  lays  a foundation. 

Horace  Mann’s  estimate  of  the  spelling-book  is  seen 
in  the  following  quotation:  ^Tn  Scotland  the  spelling 
book  is  called  the  ‘spell  book’,  and  we  ought  to  adopt 
that  appellation  here,  for,  as  it  is  often  used  with  us, 
it  does  cast  a spell  over  the  faculties  of  children,  which 
generally  they  do  not  break  for  years,  and  oftentimes, 
we  believe,  never.  If  any  two  things  on  earth  should 
be  put  together  and  kept  together,  one  would  suppose 
that  it  should  be  the  idea  of  a thing  and  the  name  of 
a thing.  The  spelling-book,  however,  is  a most  art- 
ful and  elaborate  contrivance,  by  which  words  are 
separated  from  their  meanings,  so  that  the  words  can 
be  transferred  into  the  mind  of  the  pupil  without  per- 
mitting any  glimmer  of  their  meaning  to  accompany 
them.  A spelling-book  is  a collection  of  things  with- 
out the  things  signified — of  words  without  sense — a 
dictionary  without  definitions.  It  is  a place  where 
words  are  shut  up  and  impounded,  so  that  their  sig- 


148 


nification  can  not  get  at  them.  Yet  formerly  it  was 
the  almost  universal  practice — and  we  fear  it  is  now 
nearly  so — to  keep  children  two  or  three  years  in  the 
spelling-book,  where  the  mind’s  eye  is  averted  from 
the  objects,  qualities  and  relations  of  things,  and  fast- 
ened upon  a few  marks,  of  themselves  wholly  uninter- 
esting.” 

The  spelling-book  is  not  yet  obsolete,  and  though 
we  are  aware  that  it  has  been  improved  by  the  addi- 
tion of  definitions  for  the  more  difficult  words,  still  the 
definitions  are  often  as  unintelligible  to  the  child  as 
the  original  words. 


^q5lfei|eir’3  9L5beHteelr()e^)T3 


Ipublicatione  on 

Ikinberoarten  anb  Ibome  iBbucation 


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*Maria,  Kraiis-Jioclte,  The  Kindergarten 
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^Alma  Tj.  Kriege,  Rhymes  and  Tales  for 
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*Ed.  Wiebe,  Hundert  von  Frobel  und  seinen 
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bestimmte  Lieder  nach  Original-  und  be- 
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$1.00. 

Anna  Winkel.  Das  Liederbuch  der  Mutter. 
Kinderlieder  zum  Gebrauch  im  Hause.  im 
Kindergarten  und  in  der  Kleinkinderschule. 
$0.75. 

Karoline  Wiseneder,  Auswahl  von  Liedern 
und  Spielen  aus  dem  Kindergarten  der 
Musikbildungsschule  in  Braunschweig. 
$0.55. 


4^  A DOUAI’S  Series  of  Rational 
Readers  is  based  upon  the  principles  of 
Pestalozzi’s  and  Frcebel’s  Systems. 


AH  other  Kindergarten  Publications 
already  or  hereafter  published,  either 
in  America  or  abroad,  promptly  supplied. 


E,  Steig’er  & Co.,  25  Park  Place,  New  York. 


Frcebel’s  Kindergarten  Occupations  for  the  Family. 


The  design  of  these  Boxes  is  to  provide  children  of  3 years  and  over 
with  instructive  and  quiet  amusement,  and  to  quicken  their  intellect 
without  wearying  the  brain. 


1.  Stick-laying. 

— For  Boys  and  Girls — 

600  assorted  Sticks,  1,  2,  3,  4, 
and  6 inches  long,  respectively, 
265  Designs  on  12  plates,  and 
Instructions.  Price  $0.75. 

Designed  to  teach  correctness 
of  form,  the  dements  of  numer- 
ical and  geometrical  propor- 
tions^ and  to  arouse  the  invent- 
ive faculties. 


....  We  hardly  see  how  anything 
could  be  more  attractive,  though 
the  price  is  surprisingly  low.  Re- 
garded only  as  toys,  they  cannot 
tail  to  render  most  effective  assist- 
ance in  engaging  the  attention  of 
the  little  ones,  and  keeping  them 
busy,  contented,  and  quiet.  But 
they  add  to  that  the  far  higher 
service  of  inculcating  manual  skill, 
artistic  taste,  and  the  love  of  study 
and  application,  without  tears  for 
the  pupil  or  wearisomeness  to  the 
instructor, ...  ( 7'he  Cultivator  and 
Country  Gentleman. \ 


2.  Net-work  Drawing. 

— For  Boys  and  Girls — 

1 Slate,  6j  by  inches, 
grooved,  on  one  side,  in  squares 
(I  inch  wide), ‘with  narrow  frame , 
rounded  corners,  3 slate  pen- 
cils, 94  Designs  on  12  plates,  and 
Instructions.  Price  $0.75. 

Designed  to  teach  the  first 
principles  of  drawing  and  art- 
instruction , to  train  eye  and 
hand  in  a systematic  hut  pro- 
gressive mannei\  and  to  develop 
the  intellect. 


, , , .Our  children  are  delighted  with 
these  gifts  and  find  in  them  an  in- 
finite source  of  amusement,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  valuable  instruction 
which  they  are  receiving,  with 
scarcely  any  effort  on  their  part. 

{Maine  Farmer.) 


£2.  Steigfer  So  Oo—  I>lace,  INew 


Froebel’s  Kindergarten  Occupations  for  the  Family 

are  intended  to  inculcate  manual  skill,  artistic  taste,  a ready  appreciation 
of  results,  and,  consequently,  a love  of  learning  and  application 


3.  Perforating  (Pricking). 

— For  Girls  and  Boys — 

2 Perforating-Needles,  1 Per- 
forating-Cushion, 1 Package  of 
10  leaves  of  paper,  ruled  in 
squares  on  one  side,  1 Package 
of  10  leaves  of  heavy  vrhite  pa- 
per, 93  Designs  on  12  plates,  and 
Instructions.  Price  $0.75. 

Designed  to  advance  the  child 
still  further  m art-instruction, 
and  to  create  a faculty  for  free- 
hand drawing  and  the  produc- 
tion of  artistic  and  beautiful 
forms, — The  objects  thus  made 
may  be  used  for  various  pur- 
poses in  the  household. 


....  These  Occupations  are  particu- 
larly adapted  to  family  use,  and  are 
invaluable  in  directing  the  early 
training  of  the  young  mind.  The 
price  of  these  Occupations  is  moder- 
ate, but,  whatever  their  cost,  they 
will  be  found  to  afford  a pleasure 
and  instruction  to  the  child  which 
money  cannot  buy. 

{Christian  Statesman.) 

....  We  know  of  nothing  ever  got- 
ten up  so  simple,  and  yet  so  useful, 
to  occupy  the  attention  of  little  chil- 
dren and  keep  them  amused  and 
out  of  mischief,  as  these  beautiful 
boxes....  {The  Gospel  Banner.) 


4.  Weaying  (Braiding  or 
Mat-plaiting). 

— For  Girls  and  Boys — 

1 Steel  Weaving-Needle,  20 
Mats  of  assorted  colors  and 
widths,  with  corresponding 
strips,  75  Designs  on  12  plates, 
and  Instructions.  Price  $0.75 

Designed  to  teach  neatness, 
and  accuracy  and  thus  to  convey 
a knowledge  of  the  proper  com- 
bination of  colors. — The  objects 
thus  made  may  be  preserved 
and  used  as  bookmarks^  and  in 
various  other  ways 


Froebel’s  Kindergarten  Occnpations  for  the  Family 

are  designed  to  train  children’s  minds  through  apparent  play  and  recre- 
ation, while  they  are  the  means  of  producing  little  presents. 


5.  Embroidering. 

— For  Girls  and  Boys  — 

Worsted,  of  12  different  col- 
ors, and  3 Worsted-Needles,  1 
Perforating-Needle,  10  pieces  of 
Bristol  Board,  1 piece  of  Blotting 
Paper,  10  leaves  of  white  paper, 
136  Designs  on  12  plates,  and 
Instructions.  Price  $0.75. 

Designed  to  teach  the  elements 
of  fancg-work^  to  convey  cor- 
rect ideas  as  to  number  and 
form,  and  to  stilt  further  edu- 
cate the  eye  in  the  selection  and 
combination  of  colors.  — The 
objects  produced  (like  those  of 
most  of  the  other  Occupations) 
look  pretty^  and  may  be  used  as 
presents. 


6.  Cork-  (or  Peas-)  Work. 

— For  Boys  and  Girls — 

60  Cork  Cubes,  60  pieces  of 
Wire,  1,  2,  3,  and  4 inches  long, 
respectively,  1 Piercing  - Pin, 
108  Designs  on  12  plates,  and 
Instructions.  Price  $0.75. 

Designed  to  instinxct  in  the 
proportions  of  geometrical  fig- 
ures and  in  the  production  of 
outlines  of^  solids  and  of  real 
objects,  while  teaching  also  accu- 
racy of  measurement  and  the 
dements  of  perspective,  etc. 


7.  Plaiting 
(Slat-interlacing). 

— For  Girls  and  Boys  — 

30  Wooden  Slats,  9 inches 
long  by  ^ inch  wide,  and  30 
Slats,  6 inches  long  by  4 inch 
wide,  93  Designs  on  12  plates, 
and  Instructions.  Price  $0.75. 

Designed  to  teach  precision 
and  nicety  of  adjustment,  to 
instruct  in  geometrical  form, 
and  to  stimulate  the  invention 
of  fancy  figures. 


FroeM’s  Kindergarten  Occnpations  for  the  Family 


afford  the  best  possible  means  of  preparing  children  for  school;  they  render 
instruction  easy  and  entertaining  without  requiring  constant  direction. 


8.  Eing-laying. 

— For  Boys  and  Girls— 

10  Kings  and  20  Half  Rings 
each,  of  2 inches,  14  inch,  and 
I inch  diameter,  107  Designs, 
and  Instructions.  Price  $0.75. 

Designed  to  teach  the  elements 
of  form^  as  applied  to  curved 
and  symmetrical  figures,  and  to 
lead  to  an  artistic  development 
of  the  curve— the  line  of  beauty, 

9.  Paper-intertwining. 

— For  Girls  and  Boys  — 

100  Strips  of  Paper,  white 
and  colored,  55  Designs,  and  In- 
structions. Price  $0.75. 

Designed  to  teach  the  first 
principles  of  the  art  of  decora- 
tion, the  study  of  angles,  and  the 
combination  of  colors. 

10.  Paper-cutting. 

— For  Girls  and  Boys  — 

1 Pair  of  Scissors,  with  round- 
ed blades,  100  leaves  of  Paper, 
white  and  colored,  10  leaves  of 
Ultramarine  Paper,  96  Designs, 
and  Instructions.  Price  $0.75. 

Designed  teach  the  relation 
of  complex  forms,  the  produc- 
tion of  artistic  decorations,  and 
theproper  use  of  scissors. 


11  and  12.  Tablet-laying. 

— For  Boys  and  Girls  — 

100  Tablets  of  wood,  colored 
and  finely  polished  (squares 
and  right-angled  isosceles,  equi- 
lateral, right-angled  scalene, 
and  obtuse-angled  triangles) . 
With  524  Designs. 

A Double  Box,  price  $1.50. 

Designed  to  instruct  in  geo- 
metrical forms,  their  relation 
and  adaptation  to  each  other, 
and,  also,  to  teach  the  law  of 
opposites  and  comparisons,  and 
to  stimulate  invention. 


Froebel’s  Kindergarten  Occupations  for  the  Family 


and 


13.  Connected  Slat 
Thread  Game. 

For  Boys  and  Girls  — 

1 set  Connected  Slats.  With 
Designs  and  Instructions  (The 
Eighth  Gift,  from  Kraus’  Guide), 
10  yards  scarlet,  and  10  yards 
blue  Worsted;  6 yards  blue  and 
6 yards  yellow  Cotton  Thread.  1 
Piece  of  Oil-cloth  and  2 wooden 
Pointers.  With  Designs  and  In- 
structions ( The  Twelfth  Gifty 
from  Kraus’  Guide).  Price  $0.75. 

The  Connected  Slat  is  one 
of  the  first  means  to  connect 
the  Kindergarten  with  the 
school;  it  series  to  make  the 
child  acquainted  with  the 
elements  of  geometry  while  it 
gives  rise  to  a great  variety 
of  forms  of  life  and  sym- 
metry.— The  Thread  Game 
is  not  only  an  amusement 
hut  of  actual  use  to  the 
child;  hy  means  of  the 
thread  innumerahle  forms 
of  lcnowled.gey  symmeti'y, 
and  life  can  he  produced. 


14.  Point-Lajing“. 

500  Seeds,  Shells,  etc.,  of  differ* 
ent  sizes  and  colors.  With  Designs 
and  Instructions  (The  Thirteenth 
Gifty  from  Kraus’  Guide). 

Price  $0.75. 

The  aim  of  this  Occupation  is  to  join  the 
seedSy  shells,  stones,  etc.  to  form  lines,  and 
with  such  lines  again  to  form  an  unlimited 
variety  of  figures  on  the  plane.  ^ It  qfei's  also 
a suitable  opportunity  to  exercise  small  chil- 
dren in  grouping  ccnd  sorting  the  different 
material. 


yi,  [Steigor  Co*.  TP'Ci.'nlr  'PCo'w  Yorfe 


Prcebel’s  Kindergarten  Occupations  for  the  Family. 


15*  Buildin^^  Number  One. 

8 Cubes  (1X1X1  incb)  and  8 oblong  Blocks  (2X1X^ 
Inch).  With  Diagrams  and  Instructions  Third, 
and  Fourth  Giftf  from  Kraus^ 

Guide),  Price  $0.75 


For  the  youngest  children. 
These  cubes  and  blocks  are 
designed  to  illustrate  form 
and  number  and  also  to  give 
the  first  ideas  of  fractions^ 
symmetry y etc,;  to  give  rise  to 
the  observation  of  similarity 
and  dissimilarity,  and  to  al- 
low a varied  and  interesting 
application  in  the  produc- 
tion of  forms  of  knowledge 
(or  mathematical  forms),  of 
beauty  (or  symmetry)^  and 
of  life. 


16.  Building^  Number  Two. 

21  Cubes  (1X1X1  inch),  6 half  and  12 
quarter  Cubes.  With  Diagrams 
structions  ( The  Fifth 
Gift,  from  Kraus’ 

Guide),  Price  $0.75. 

This  is  a continua- 
tion of  and  a com- 
plement to.  Box  No,  15; 
it  admits  of  a more  ex- 
tended application. 


17.  Building^  Number  Three. 

18  Oblong  Blocks  (2XlXi  inch),  3 similar  Blocks 
divided  lengthwise  into  6 (each  2XjX^  inch),  and 
6 divided  breadthwise  into  12  (eachlXlXj  inch). 
With  Diagrams  and  Instructions  (The  Sixth  Gift, 
from  Kraus’  Guide).  Price  $0.75. 

A further  continuation  of,  and  complement  to, 
Boxes  Nos.  15  and  16,  it  admits  of  a more  extended 
application. 

18.  Paper-folding. 

100  leaves  of  white  and  colored  paper,  20  leaves 
of  strong  Manila  paper,  one  wooden  Paper-Folder, 
54  Designs  and  Instructions. (In  German.)Mce  $0.75. 

( Steiger’s  Sample  Cards  of  Work  that  may 
be  produced  by  means  of,  or  from, the  material,  etc., 
of  the  FroebeVs  KindergaHen  Occupations  for  the 
Family.  Nos.  1-12.  In  Portfolio,  $0.75  net. 

Additional  boxes  are  in  course  of  preparation, 
and  will  soon  be  issue:!* 


Material,  Gifts,  and  Occupations. 


We  keep  the  Most  Complete  Assortment,  carefully 
manufactured  in  accordance  with  the  directions  of 


the  highest  authorities  of 

the  genuine  Frcebel  System. 


Full  illustrated  Cata- 
logue sent  postpaid  upon 
receipt  of  3 Cents  in  Post- 
age Stamps. 


All  Orders  promptly 
attended  to. 
Favorable  Terms  on 
large  Lots. 


Full  Assortment  of 
Kindergarten  Publi- 
cations in  English, 
German,  and  French. 
List  mailed  postpaid. 


EL  ©teisrei-  & Co.,  SS  Pearls  f»laoe,  Yorlc 


